Obsession with Zardari; Not in the New Year!
By Agha Haider Raza
TV anchors must refrain from pretending as Chief Justice. Picture / Pakistan Media Watch
It has of late become frustrating to read the newspapers in Pakistan. If the once a week suicide bombings are not bad enough, there is a constant Zardari bashing in the news. I understand the resentment towards him, and to some extent even comprehend why so many individuals constantly write against President Zardari.
However, the question that I have is what good comes out of it? If you can tell me that by having Zardari removed, we will see peace in Pakistan, the bombings will cease, inflation will come down, the poor will be looked after and all other social problems will be quelled, than I will jump on the anti-Zardari bandwagon. But until then, zip it!
Let me make it clear, I have no love lost for President Zardari. But the amount of negative-conspiracy ridden stories that have been coming out in the media are just ridiculous. Most journalists and anchormen (and women) seem to have taken the well-deserved and hard-earned freedom of the media and use it as a platform to blast Zardari’s presidency. This constitutes another misuse of power, equating such journalists with the same corrupt leaders they are trying to bring down. Such journalists need to divert the public’s attention towards factors that would increase the peace, security and stability in Pakistan. Frankly speaking, I don’t believe removing the President is the answer to our problems.
The recent “independent“ judiciary seemed to be our messiah, but now it just seems to be a political tool being used by some high ups to fulfill their agenda. We love talking about how all the alleged corrupt politicians should be removed from office and assumed the rescinding of the NRO would pour billions of rupees back into Pakistan’s treasury. In an ideal world, that would be the best possible solution. But it is time to bounce back into reality. 2009 has been a tumultuous period for Pakistan and with the year coming to end, we need a lot more than prayers to carry us into a prosperous 2010.
People in Pakistan enjoy claiming that President Zardari relishes dirty politics, but have the opposition parties played a positive role? Yes, Nawaz Sharif does come out after every suicide bombing and expresses his condemnation and condolences (do not forget his eternal cry of trying ex-President General Musharraf for treason!). Is it not dirty of the opposing parties to sit on the sidelines and play a wait and see game, while Pakistan endures one of the most turbulent periods in its history? Now is a time to put away our ego and pride, we have lost too many Pakistanis over ideologies and politics.
The bombings need to come to an end. Every time one occurs, messages of grief and sadness erupt from all corners of Pakistan, and then nothing seems to be done until the next round of bombings take place, where the messages pop up again. Concocting stories and trying to take President Zardari out of office now seem to be more of a personal gain for many journalists. If Zardari has done wrong, then impeach him or refer the matter to the Supreme Court.
Why is it that every move of President Zardari is scrutinized, but our military has not got the same level of scrutiny and media attention? Even though the Pakistani Army is at war with militants in the tribal region and northern areas not much is reported on that front less small paragraph hidden between the lines. The opposition seems to have been given a get out of jail card on behalf of the media. Why? The Government of Punjab tends to give the impression that they represent more of the federation than Prime Minister Gilani’s cabinet and Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s current tenure has been more about the politics than the policy. More attention is given to the never-ending story of the Sindh Card than the plight of the millions of Pakistanis trapped in the ongoing military operations.
The current political scenario in Pakistan seems to be more of a Royal Rumble, with the winner being the last man standing. With bombings and death occurring at a rate we have never witnessed before, now is surely not the time to be wrestling with each other.
We all have a duty to hold our elected government accountable, but not in the manner in which the current crop of journalists have undertaken. Adding more misery to our plight is not the way to go about this duty. Our media should harness their skills in a manner, which brings about a revolution for a greater tomorrow; 2010 is our year! The media need to focus on the poor policeman, who endures the anger of thousands of motorists everyday, the illiterate child who wants to go to school and on the lack of acknowledgement for the Pakistani middle-class.
Empowering citizens is usually the primary agenda of an elected government. For whatever reasons, our past and present governments have not been able to uplift the citizens of Pakistan. With two such strong institutions (the judiciary and media) gaining some autonomy and independence, we should not allow individuals to hinder the momentum by focusing on the smaller picture.
Over the past 62 years, we have always focused on the short-term gains while setting aside the long-term goals. The media needs to tighten their belt and start concentrating on how to reduce the number of deaths in Pakistan and look for ways to cleanse the filthy ideology that leads people to become suicide bombers. This agenda should not rest solely on the shoulders of the media, but on the three arms of state – judiciary, legislature and executive – along with the rest of the population of Pakistan. We all have a very crucial role to play as well in order to carry forward our bleeding country. By marginalizing the President of Pakistan, the media is doing no one a favor; it honestly is time to focus on the long-term goals. 2010 here we come!
President Asif Ali Zardari Thursday said ‘political actors’ are at work against the government.
In an interview, President Zardari said there is complete harmony between the Army and civilian leadership on the military operation and that the opinion of the military establishment was always paid attention and heed.
He said he identified the ‘non-state actors’ in his speech to which they (non-state actors) responded by carrying out an explosion in the middle of the Ashura procession.
“The political forces want that ISI be brought under civilian control, but for the time being this matter has been put to a halt,” President Asif Ali Zardari said.
He said establishment is a name of perception which works in different ways. “It (establishment) sometimes appears in the shape of Leghari and on others as Roidad Khan,” he described.
He said conspiracies are not being hatched against him but Pakistan. He said he considered Baitullah Mehsud responsible for plotting the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. However, it is not just the hand which pressed the trigger but also the thought (establishment) behind that hand which needs to be exposed and confronted.
’آئی ایس آئی پر سویلین کنٹرول ابھی نہیں‘
ریاض سہیل
بی بی سی اردو ڈاٹ کام، کراچی
کراچی دھماکہ دراصل غیر ریاستی عناصر کی کارروائی تھی:صدر زرداری
پاکستان کے صدر اور پیپلز پارٹی کے چیئرمین آصف علی زرداری نے کہا ہے کہ حالات کی مجبوری کی وجہ سے فی الحال آئی ایس آئی کو سویلین کنٹرول میں دینا ممکن نہیں ہے۔
جمعرات کو ایک مقامی سندھی نیوز چینل کو دیے گئے تفصیلی انٹرویو میں صدرِ پاکستان کا کہنا تھا کہ خفیہ ادارے پر سویلین کنٹرول کے حوالے سے ملک کی تمام سیاسی قوتوں میں ہم آہنگی موجود ہے تاہم حالات کی مجبوری کی وجہ سے یہ معاملہ تاخیر کا شکار ہے اور انہوں نے اس فیصلے سے فی الحال دستبردار ہونے کا فیصلہ کیا ہے۔
صدر زرداری نے کہا کہ پاکستان میں اسٹبلشمنٹ سے مراد کوئی ایک ادارہ نہیں بلکہ ایک سوچ ہے۔ ان کا کہنا تھا کہ ’پاکستان میں اسٹیبلشمنٹ ایک مائنڈ سیٹ ہے‘۔
انہوں نے کہا کہ ’جب ہم اسٹبلشمنٹ کی بات کرتے ہیں تو لوگوں کا خیال ایک ایجنسی کی طرف جاتا ہے مگر اسٹیبلشمنٹ وقت بے وقت مختلف لوگوں کو استعمال کرتی رہی ہے اور کبھی روئیداد خان، تو کبھی سجاد علی شاہ تو کبھی فاروق لغاری کو سامنا لایا جاتا ہے‘۔
صدر زرداری کے مطابق یہ سمجھنا کہ جمہوری حکومت اور ان کے خلاف سازشیں ہو رہی ہیں یہ ان کی سیاسی سوچ ہے۔’ہم نے انہیں باور کرایا ہے کہ سویلین کی ہی حکمرانی رہنی چاہیئے اب وہ سمجھ گئے ہیں کہ ہماری سوچ درست ہے‘۔
آئی ایس آئی کا ذکر کرتے ہوئے صدر کا کہنا تھا کہ اس خفیہ ادارے پر سویلین کنٹرول کے حوالے سے ملک کی تمام سیاسی قوتوں میں ہم آہنگی موجود ہے تاہم حالات کی مجبوری کی وجہ سے یہ معاملہ تاخیر کا شکار ہے
صدر زرداری نے کہا کہ یومِ عاشور پر کراچی میں ہونے والا دھماکہ دراصل غیر ریاستی عناصر کی کارروائی تھی اور یہ گڑھی خدا بخش میں ان کی تقریر کا ردعمل بھی تھا۔ خیال رہے کہ صدر نے کراچی میں بم دھماکے سے ایک روز پہلے، گڑھی خدابخش میں پپپلزپارٹی کی مرحومہ چیئرپرسن بینظیر بھٹو کی دوسری برسی پر اپنی تقریر میں غیر ریاستی عناصر کو کڑی تنقید کا نشانہ بنایا تھا۔
انہوں نے کہا کہ یہ پہلا واقعہ نہیں ہے اور جب انہوں نے پارلیمان میں اپنی پہلی تقریر کی تو میریئٹ ہوٹل میں دھماکہ کر کے انہیں پیغام دیا گیا کہ ’وہ جمہوری قوتوں کو تباہ کرنا چاہتے ہیں‘۔
صدر زرداری نے اس تاثر کو رد کیا کہ وہ مشکل وقت میں سندھ کارڈ استعمال کرتے ہیں۔ ان کا کہنا تھا کہ ’میں صرف اتنا کہوں گا کہ جو لوگ یہ کہتے ہیں وہ اعتزاز احسن کی کتاب انڈس ساگا کا مطالعہ کریں جس میں بتایا گیا ہے کہ آج کا پاکستان ماضی کا سندھ ہے اور یہ دریائے سندھ کی تہذیب ہے‘۔
جب ہم اسٹبلشمنٹ کی بات کرتے ہیں تو لوگوں کا خیال ایک ایجنسی کی طرف جاتا ہے مگر اسٹیبلشمنٹ وقت بے وقت مختلف لوگوں کو استعمال کرتی رہی ہے اور کبھی روئیداد خان، تو کبھی سجاد علی شاہ تو کبھی فاروق لغاری کو سامنا لایا جاتا ہے۔
آصف زرداری
انہوں نے واضح کیا کہ پیپلز پارٹی اور متحدہ قومی موومنٹ کے درمیان کوئی بھی اختلافات نہیں ہیں اور ’بھائیوں سے غلطی ہوتی رہتی ہے ، بلدیاتی نظام کے معاملات طے پا جائیں گے‘۔
ان کا کہنا تھا کہ جنرل ضیاالحق کے دور حکومت میں بحالی جمہوریت کی تحریک یعنی ایم آر ڈی میں سندھ کے علاوہ پنجاب اور بلوچستان کے ساتھ بھی ظلم کیا گیا جس کی وہ سربراہ مملکت کے طور پر اپنی گردن خم کر کے معافی مانگتے ہیں اور اس سے قبل ذوالفقار علی بھٹو کا خون کیا گیا جس کی بھی وہ ریاست کے سربراہ کی حیثیت سے سندھ کے عوام سے معافی کے طلب گار ہیں۔
انہوں نے بتایا کہ انٹیلی جنس رپورٹس کے مطابق بینظیر بھٹو کا قتل بیت اللہ محسود گروپ نے کرایا اور وہ ان رپورٹس کو مسترد نہیں کرتے۔’ آپ بینظیر بھٹو کی اٹھارہ اکتوبر حملے کے بعد کی تقاریر سنیں جس میں انہوں نے کہا تھا کہ اگر انہیں کچھ ہوا تو وہ صرف اس ہاتھ کی بات نہیں کریں گی جس کی ہاتھ میں ٹریگر ہے بلکہ جو اس سوچ کی عکاسی کرتا ہے وہ اس کی بات کریں گی‘۔
انہوں نے کہا کہ وہ بھی اس سوچ کی بات کرتے ہیں۔ صدر زرداری کا کہنا تھا کہ بینظیر بھٹو کی اپنی خواہش تھی کہ اٹھارہ اکتوبر کے حملے کی تحقیقات اقوام متحدہ سے کرائی جائیں اور ان کی ہلاکت کے بعد اس خواہش کی پیروی کی گئی ہے
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/2009/12/091231_zardari_iv_zs.shtml
Asfandyar Wali Khan expresses his support for President Zardari:
http://jang.com.pk/jang/jan2010-daily/02-01-2010/index.html
Comment by email:
THE WISDOM OF ASIF ALI ZARDARI
Behalf of full war of establishment, pressure groups, political actors, media, judicial dictators, so called civil society and opposition the Asif Ali Zardari has proven himself as the wise and coolest person.
He is not afraid of any thing. His speech in Nau Dero is itself a solid proof of his determination and courage. He is determined to take PAKISTAN out of its problems.He said in an T.V interview that he is not afraid of the decline of his popularity as it is high time to take difficult & harsh decisions because if the decisions are not taken at this time then history will not forgive us.
An another proof of his wisdom and non-biased mentality is that he said that Establishment is the name of an ill mentality. He further said that the establishemt comes out in the form of FAROOQ AHMAD LAGHARI and it also comes out in the form of ROIDAAD KHAN. The establishment changes its shape and forms but not changes its attitude.
One thing is clear that Asif Ali Zardari is fighting all these problems with great courage and with fair play. He has not put any pressure on judiciary from the parliament which was must to be used by any other government. In the past we have seen such things in the NAWAZ SHARIF,s era. The supreme court was attacked by the government including its MNA’s in Nawaz Sharif’s era during 1997 – 1999.
But the present government has taken the initiative to not ruin the institutes for its own sake. NRO was declared the black law from the supreme court and it was appreciated by the government and Asif Ali Zardari.
Never any single member of PPP defended the NRO.
But here are some questions from the people of Pakistanl
(1) Why the attack on Supreme court is not debated in IFtikhar Choudhary’s court?
(2) What is the decision and ideology of Iftikhar Chaudhary’s court about PCO 1 taken by many recently acting judges in 2000 in Musharraf’s reign?
(3) Is the PCO 1 is a holy and sacred thing and PCO 2 is the evil thing?
(4) Is it not included in the treaty of Democracy between PPP & PML-N that no PCO judge will be referred?
(5) Where is the money of “QARAZ UTARO MULK SANWARO”?
(6) The most important question. If the “TAYYARA SAAZISH CASE” is true and the punishment of SHARIF BROTHERS is forgiven due to the reason that on that occasion the President of Pakistan Musharraf forgave it. Then the NRO was also from the same president Musharraf. Why only NRO is black law? Why not the erasing of “TAYYARA SAZISH CASE” is not a BLACK LAW?
THERE MILLIONS OF QUESTIONS IN THE MIND OF PAKISTANI PUBLIC AND PPP WORKERS SPECIALLY.
BUT I APPEAL ONLY THESE 6 QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED.
THANK YOU.
(MUHAMMAD AMJAD RASHID)
Dr Shahid Masood is a real waste of time. He is not even worth reading I always remember not to criticise the person, but to criticise their negative actions. There are not many takers left of Shahid Masood because I have been constantly seeing that he is making conspiracies against Pakistan top leadership. It is like the last straw on the heavily loaded camel’s back. It is a pity that we still don’t have too many journalist/writers with integrity and intelligence. I fail to understand how this guy can even write in an English News paper when everyone knows that he is famous in spreading chaos and wrong information.
ANP’s clear stance
Seemingly beleaguered President Asif Ali Zardari could not but be pleased by the clear and unequivocal support to him by coalition partner Awami National Party’s (ANP’s) president Asfandyar Wali Khan. Addressing a press conference, Asfandyar said his party would not support any unconstitutional removal of President Zardari. He went on to question why the president was being asked to resign on moral grounds when nothing had been proved against him in the cases for which he was incarcerated for long years. As for the army chief, General Kayani, Asfandyar was certain that he would not derail democracy. Those seeking the president’s ouster, he said, should have recourse to the method for the constitutional removal of a sitting president, i.e. impeachment, for which the requisite votes were just not available in the electoral college. Asfandyar felt that all institutions should work within their constitutional framework, and all political forces should unite against the non-state actors referred to in the president’s speeches and who were responsible for the spate of terrorist outrages against the citizens of the country. He revealed some interesting and hitherto unknown details about how the party’s senior negotiators, Afrasyab Khattak and Mian Iftikhar Hussain were threatened by the presence behind them of two suicide bombers when the militants were exhorting them to sign the Swat peace accord. Despite not being in a position to refuse, the ANP saw the agreement unravel soon after because of the escalating intransigence of the militants, Asfandyar reminded us.
Ever since the Supreme Court’s verdict on the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), this question about the proper ambit for each institution and the speculations about a possible clash between or amongst institutions have been doing the rounds. It is a line of thought that stubbornly seems not to be going away, despite assurances from the highest to the lowest that there is no clash going on. Even the prime minister felt constrained to state once again that there was no rift between the government and the army, let alone any other institution. He used the occasion of a visit to the families of martyred policemen to reiterate his government’s commitment tot the repeal of the 17th Amendment and the will and resolve to combat the terrorists’ agenda.
If the leader of the ANP and the prime minister’s reiterations were not enough, President Asif Ali Zardari too weighed in once again with a vow to fight internal conspiracies against democracy and external conspiracies against the country. These repeated assertions are understandable from the perspective that these leaders are trying to keep the public focused on the task at hand, i.e. the struggle against terrorism.
http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\01\04\story_4-1-2010_pg3_1
Agha Haider Raza’s article was published in Daily Times today (10 Jan 2010):
http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\01\10\story_10-1-2010_pg3_5