Congratulations: Death Penalty is Gone Forever from pakistan

After ten years without hangings, death penalty will be no longer be acceptable to the people of Pakistan.

Nawaz government has extended the ban on death penalty for an indefinite period (Dawn, 4 Oct 2013, http://dawn.com/news/1047379/plan-to-restore-death-penalty-shelved ). If there are no hangings for ten years, then it is highly unlikely that they will ever be restarted. This is a remarkable case of positive feedback. The ban was initially started by Zardari as a personal decision based on his idea of human rights. PML-N tried to restart hangings but found that the public was not very interested in it, but Taliban were strongly opposed to it. There was also some pressure from European Union since death penalty has been banned in Europe.

Hopefully, after ten years, ordinary Pakistanis will consider hanging to be as cruel as whipping, stoning and amputations. Putting someone in prison for life imprisonment is severe enough. After twenty years in jail, the person will be too old and outdated to commit serious crime. And if few of them again do something serious, then we can send them to jail again, hopefully till the end of their lives.

People will also realize that death penalty is not necessary to establish safety and security. What is actually needed to protect the general public is good police work and fair judiciary. Things like finger printing, security cameras, ID card checking, control of mobile SIM sale, reducing cash and promoting debit cards make it very difficult to hide a criminal person or his black money. Of course if we can help in ending the wars in Afghanistan and Kashmir instead of promoting them, and convert Tribal Areas into settled areas, then we will see a huge fall in weapons and crimes all over the country.

But for the moment, let us celebrate a small but important step that Pakistan has taken in moving towards Humanity. Unnecessary cruelty, even in the name of nation or religion, is still cruelty.

Want Peace in Pakistan? Give peace to Afghanistan

Khyber PakhtunKhwa, KPK,  is again facing a spike in terrorist violence. The mass bombings in Church and market in Peshawar have re-ignited the debate over the best way to achieve peace. There are only two options. Peace deal with Taliban or forceful operation to destroy Taliban.

                Let us look at the talks option. Pakistan government and Pakistani Taliban can reach only one deal. That is ceasefire along a new Line of Control. Pak Army will withdraw from Taliban controlled Tribal areas along with Dir and Swat districts of KPK. Taliban will withdraw from rest of KPK. We cannot really expect that after the talks, Taliban will agree to hand over all of Tribal areas to Pak Army. Nor can we expect Pakistan government to hand over all of Pakistan to the Taliban. Tribal areas will practically become a new country, say Talibanistan. But it is almost certain that Pakistan and Afghanistan will continue to be attacked from this Talibanistan. And the Talibanistan will certainly be attacked by US. So there will be no peace after all!

                The only other option is a comprehensive military operation against Taliban focused on North Waziristan and including extremist Madrassas all over Pakistan. This will be very bloody indeed, but the result is certain. Pakistan Army can easily defeat Taliban when it goes all out, like it did in Swat and South Waziristan. But that needs public support which will have to accept the wave of suicide bombings all over Pakistan and the difficulties of refugees from Tribal Areas. But the bombings and refugees are already there, so what is the problem?

                The problem is that every medicine has a side effect. The side effect of peace in Pakistan is that it will also bring peace to Afghanistan, and that is a big side effect. A clear majority of Pakistanis whole-heartedly support Afghan Taliban and want to remove Karzai government through a civil war. But the Afghan Taliban’s main group, Haqqani faction, is based in North Waziristan together with Pakistani Taliban. They don’t fight each other. Afghan Taliban don’t even tell Pak Army about the hiding places of Pakistani Taliban. So any operation in North Waziristan will have to remove both Pakistani and Afghan Taliban. This is unacceptable to a majority of Pakistanis. Pak Army also wants to protect Afghan Taliban while destroying Pakistani Taliban. Pak Army has been trying for 10 years to cut the branches of terrorists in other tribal areas without cutting the root in North Waziristan. This unwillingness to destroy Afghan Taliban with our own hands is the main, the basic reason why we cannot bring peace to our country.

We as a nation have still not understood that you cannot burn the houses of your neighbor to the right and the neighbor to the left without burning your own house! Pakistan will find peace only when it gives peace to Kashmir and Afghanistan. As long as we continue training militants to bomb our neighbors, we will keep dying by the same bombs.

Why there will never be another Martial Law in Pakistan

The elections are finally here but there is still a lot of anxiety whether they will be held on time, or held at all. Of course there are no certainties in politics but there are some larger trends which are more powerful than individual players. The information technology, including satellite TV, mobile phones and internet will ensure that there will never be another Martial Law in Pakistan, or anywhere else in the world.

Let me explain. Crime needs a cover. No criminal is more powerful than the whole society. A strong man cannot beat an old lady in the middle of a busy street because the society will interfere against the cruelty. Preparation for Martial Law needs the cover of a censored media. No conspiracy can work if every meeting between Generals and politicians gets reported in media. A general can still possibly capture Islamabad with tanks and impose censorship on the news channels, but not on email and twitter. If government closes the entire internet and SMS service for a long time, then the economy will collapse, family contacts will be broken and the whole public will turn against that government. If the dictator uses violence to crush the public, the world media will reveal it. Every country has enemies and jealous neighbours who will help the rebels to overthrow the dictator.

Information technology brings democracy because mobile phones and internet, specifically SMS and social media (Facebook, twitter, emails) give ordinary citizen a lot of freedom. Everyone can get information from any news source in the world and similarly we can all express ourselves freely and rapidly about ongoing events. This forces the rulers to respond to the public opinion otherwise they will be overthrown by the same public.

The reason why the assemblies have completed their tenure for the first time in Pakistan’s history is not the skill of Zardari but new power of the social media. The internet and SMS cannot be controlled without closing down the entire economy. This social media defended the news channels when they were closed by Musharraf, the channels restored the judiciary when the dictator dismissed the judges, and the judiciary has protected the constitution against the next batch of conspiracies. This alliance of freedom cannot be defeated by any General or Taliban.

There is another more philosophical basis of this faith in permanent democracy. When the Humans lived as tribes in the forest or deserts, the only form of government was the tribal leader. When we leant agriculture, the society changed. Now there were kings who had slaves to work in the fields. Next came the industrial revolution which gave allowed a dictator to organise a huge army to control his own people and to invade the neighbours. But factories require technical people, so slavery was abolished and workers were hired on salary. And now the information revolution has come and has given the freedom of information and speech to the common man. This is the reason that peoples’ power has suddenly risen all over the world. General Musharraf was removed in Pakistan, Arab dictators were overthrown, democratic governments now control almost all of Africa and even advanced democracies faced “Occupy Wall Street” movements by ordinary citizens. 

Once the Human society has reached a more advanced stage of progress, it cannot easily go back. So the chances of martial Law in Pakistan are about the same as the chances of return of the Mughal Kingdom. Just relax and join the fun of a historic democratic transition in Pakistan and the whole world.

The Story of the Proud Father. Pakistan, Taliban and the World.

Once upon a time, there lived a good man in a good village. He was blessed with a nice house, productive fields and a loving wife. When a little baby boy was born to him, he was overjoyed. He looked after and pampered his son a lot. The son grew up to be a healthy and handsome teenager. His father was very proud of him indeed.

   One day, the door was knocked and the villager was surprised to find four of his neighbors standing at the door. They complained that his son was beating little children and teasing the girls of the village. This was a big shock for the proud father. He flew into a rage and said that this was surely a false allegation made by the jealous neighbors. Taking care of their children was not his responsibility. Firstly his son was a nice boy and could not possibly do anything wrong, and secondly, even if he was doing it, they should arrange for the protection of their own children. And he told his poor neighbors to get lost.

   As time passed, the complaints by the fellow villagers became more and more frequent, but the proud father was convinced that this was all a conspiracy and the whole village was jealous of him. They were just looking for an excuse to snatch his house and fields.

   But we should all remember what the wise old people said: as you sow, so shall you reap. The handsome teenager became a tall strong man and his proud father grew old and weak. Now the son will not give his father food, and beat him up whenever he felt like it. When his friends consoled him, the proud father explained that this was not really his son who was abusing him. It was actually his evil friends and jealous neighbors who were using his simple innocent son to get him beaten. And still he was proud of him.

   Finally, the whole village realized that the son was now stronger than his father and was no longer under his control. They called a panjayat and decided to expel the son from the village. The proud father got very angry and warned them that they will never be able to defeat his strong and brave son and snatch his house and fields. The only solution was that the village should accept his abuse as he had himself accepted it. But the villagers had had enough. They all got together with their sticks and axes and went after the son.

   I hope you remember the story of the weak sticks that made a strong bundle. Although the son was taller and stronger than any other villager, and did actually thrash quite a few of them, he could get no help from anyone, while the villagers just kept on coming till the son was tired and bruised and finally ran away from the village, never to return. The father lived the rest of his days in peace in his peaceful home and peaceful village. But whenever the topic of his son came up, the proud father insisted that it was indeed a great conspiracy.

National interest of Pakistan

People of Pakistan are quite confused about the so-called national interest of Pakistan. there are only two real choices:
1. jihad and sacrifice
2. peace and prosperity
what most of our media thinkers desire is jihad for control over Kabul and Srinagar ( and new delhi, palestine, Chechnia, bosnia, sinkiang in china etc). at the same time they dont want to give any sacrifice of "jaan-o-maal".
i think it is time we stopped calling war by noble names like Jihad or freedom struggle. lets make peace and concentrate on the economic interests of Pakistan. war and development are mutually exclusive.

Raymond Davis and Pakistan

امریکہ اور طالبان کے بارے میں کئی غلط فہمیاں ہیں. ہم اسلام سے محبت اور غیر مسلموں سے نفرت میں اس حقیقت کو بھول جاتے ہیں کہ مسلمانوں کےہمیشہ سے آپس میں شدید اختلافات ہیں اور وہ اکثر ایک دوسرے کے ساتھ جنگ کرتے رہتے ہیں. طالبان اور القاعدہ امریکہ کے خلاف فیصلہ کن جہاد کرنا چاہتے ہیں. ان کے خیال میں وہ تمام امن پسند مسلمان جو اس جہاد میں شامل نہیں ہو رہے وہ منافق اور واجب القتل ہیں. وہ پاکستان فوج کو شکست دے کر یہاں سے عالمی ایٹمی جہاد شروع کرنا چاہتے ہیں اور ان سے مقابلہ کرنے کے لیے ہمیں امریکہ کی فوجی اور مالی مدد کی ضرورت ہے. ادھر امریکہ بھی القاعدہ کے حملوں سے بچنے کے لیے  پاک فوج اور آئ ایس آئ  کی مدد کر رہا ہے. اس لیے طالبان ہم پر حملے کرتے ہیں. انڈیا یا امریکہ یہ خود کش حملے نہیں کروا رہے.
اگر ایک طرف پاکستان اور طالبان کے مقاصد میں فرق ہے تو دوسری طرف پاکستان اور امریکہ کے درمیان بھی اختلافات ہیں. امریکہ چاہتا ہے کہ پاکستان اپنا ایٹمی پروگرام بند کر دے ورنہ دوسرے ملک بھی بم بنانا چاہیں گے اور ان میں سے کوئی نہ کوئی امریکہ اور اس کے حمائتیوں پر ایٹمی حملہ کر دے گا. امریکہ کی یہ بھی خواہش ہے کے پاکستان انڈیا کے ساتھ امن قائم کرے اور کشمیر کو ٹھنڈا کرے تاکہ پاک فوج اپنی پوری توجہ طالبان پر دے. ان مقاصد کو حاصل کرنے کے لیے امریکہ پاکستان کو بھاری امداد دیتا ہے اور پابندیوں سے ڈراتا بھی ہے. لیکن اگر پاکستان حکومت اور فوج ختم ہو گئی تو ایٹمی ہتھیار کوئی بھی لے سکتا ہے جو امریکہ کے خلاف بھی استعمال ہو سکتے ہیں. اس لیے امریکہ پاکستان کو تباہ نہیں کرنا چاہتا. وہ صرف یہ چاہتا ہے کہ پاک فوج ایٹم بم اپنی نگرانی میں ختم کرے یا کم از کم طالبان سے بچا کر رکھے. جبکہ طالبان چاہتے ہیں کہ پاک فوج ختم ہو جاۓ اور طالبان پورے پاکستان پر یا کم از کم ایک دو ایٹم بموں پر قبضہ کر لیں.
پاک فوج کو اس دو طرفہ دباؤ کا احساس ہے اس لیے وہ ایٹمی پروگرام کو بچا کر طالبان کے خلاف امریکہ سے تعاون کر رہی ہے. اس کے نتیجے میں طالبان ہم پر حملے کرتے ہیں اور امریکہ بھی ہم پر دباؤ ڈالتا ہے. مگر میڈیا کے کچھ لوگ کفر اور اسلام کی عینک سے دیکھتے ہوۓ خود کش حملوں سمیت ہر الزام امریکہ پر ڈال دیتے ہیں. طالبان سے لڑنا ضروری ہے لیکن یہ بھی اہم ہے کہ پاک  فوج امریکی ڈرون حملوں کو رکوا کر خود وزیرستان میں آپریشن کرے. اس طرح پاکستان کو امریکہ اور طالبان دونوں سے نجات مل جاۓ گی.

Che Guevara in Pakistan

Che Guevara, the famous communist revolutionary from Cuba, visiting Pakistan in 1959. Picture with Ayub Khan.

http://www.viewpointonline.net/che-in-pakistan.html


This visit has the same emotional value for the many closet communists as the fabled visits of Sahaba from Arab to various regions of Pakistan.

Che Guevara, 3rd from Left, with President Ayub Khan, center.