By Wajid Ali Syed
Salmaan Taseer is dead. He’s neither the first politician, first liberal, the first outspoken bullish pugnacious politician who was killed. Nor is he last. There were many, there will be more. He was the sitting governor of Pakistan’s biggest province and was assassinated by his own bodyguard.
Does Pakistan suffer today because of his death? Yes. Does it change anything on the ground? No.
He was slain because he called the notorious blasphemy law as black law. (more…)
By Dr Syed Mansoor Hussain
I rarely write about US-Pakistani relations. The reason is that I have difficulty in being objective about either country. My problem, as I have said before, is summed up in the refrain from a song made famous by Mary MacGregor in the 70s, “Torn between two lovers, feelin’ like a fool. Loving both of you is breakin’ all the rules.”
When things seem to look up between the US and Pakistan, I do get a bit excited but sadly not for too long. The relationship between these two countries is rarely based on mutual respect. Almost always it is a matter of mutual need and unfortunately for Pakistan it needs the US more often than the other way around.
It all really started when in 1953 Bogra, our man in DC, was brought back to become prime minister of Pakistan. It was about getting US aid, wheat and money then, and in some way or the other that is what it is still all about. (more…)
By David B. Rivkin Jr. and Lee A. Casey
When U.S. President Barack Obama sharply challenged a recent Supreme Court decision in his State of the Union address, prompting a soto voce rejoinder from Justice Samuel Alito, nobody was concerned that the contretemps would spark a blood feud between the judiciary and the executive. The notion that judges could or would work to undermine a sitting U.S. president is fundamentally alien to America’s constitutional system and political culture. Unfortunately, this is not the case in Pakistan.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, the country’s erstwhile hero, is the leading culprit in an unfolding constitutional drama. It was Mr. Chaudhry’s dismissal by then-President Pervez Musharraf in 2007 that triggered street protests by lawyers and judges under the twin banners of democracy and judicial independence. This effort eventually led to Mr. Musharraf’s resignation in 2008. Yet it is now Mr. Chaudhry himself who is violating those principles, having evidently embarked on a campaign to undermine and perhaps even oust President Asif Ali Zardari. (more…)
By Dr Manzur Ejaz
The rise of the right wing conservative religious forces in Pakistan was due to a combination of factors. A changing economy, military adventures and backward state institutions played a main role in giving rise to jihadism, etc. It was not dictator Zia or other military rulers who were the only players in such an outcome. The evolution of Pakistan has to be reviewed in a broad historical perspective.
The 1965 war had done irreparable damage to Ayub Khan’s regime; the economy started sagging, food shortages became common and prices of necessities saw a steep rise. In such a depressing environment, Ayub Khan and his son’s corruption scandals became the diet of daily political discussions. In a shrinking job market and increasing population, the post-partition born educated work force was seeking jobs with no success. Later on, Zulifqar Ali Bhutto’s breaking away and his exploitation of the Tashkent Agreement further undermined the Ayub regime.
Around 1965-66, on the surface, Ayub Khan was very strong because there was no credible opposition to his rule except in East Pakistan. (more…)
By Raza Rumi
Many decades ago, our Governor General-President Iskander Mirza had rather contemptuously stated that democracy does not suit the genius of Pakistani people. Immediately after these words of wisdom were uttered, direct military rule not only exiled Mirza but also became a norm rather than aberration. For the last six decades or so we have not been able to overcome this political reality. The unelected institutions of the state are not willing to give up the power they inherited from the might of the colonial state. At best, they are willing to share power to a degree that they deem fit.
It is now clear that within a few months Pakistan is due for another political upheaval. Barely two years after an election took place, the political elites are back in business (more…)
By Saqlain Imam
The marriage of convenience between Pakistan and the USA has faced hick-ups from the very onset of their relations in the early 1950’s.
The inauspicious nascent relations between both the countries turned into a close association in the years to come. The United States had a very little interest in Pakistan after it was carved out of united India in 1947. This standoffishness lingered despite the fact that the Cold War had begun. America’s indifference towards Pakistan is evident by the little-known fact that when Pakistan asked for economic assistance from the USA during the life time of the founder of the country Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the U.S. embassy in Karachi only offered words of encouragement and some pedestal fans.
Monday, February 6, 2012
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