Featured Post

FrontPage صفحہ اول

Salaam Pakistan  is one of projects of  "SalaamOne Network" , to provide information and intellectual resource with a view to...

Criminal negligence, Mullah Radio and Friday Sermons


ہر جمعہ مبارک کے دن لاکھوں خطیب اسلام کے نام پر طالبان اور دہشت گردوں کی خاموش 
حمایت میں خطبے فرماتے ہیں . عوام خاموشی سے سنتے ہیں . ملا پر کوئی روک ٹوک نہیں . قرآن پاک کی منتخب ادھوری آیات اور ادھوری احادیث مبارک بیان کر کے سیاست ور ہر موضو ع پر بلا روک ٹوک بولتے ہیں . سب خاموش ہیں . یاد رہے سوات میں ملا ریڈیو نے اسی طرہ عوام کو بیوقوف بنایا تھا . بعد میں جو کچھ ہوا وہ ہم سب کو معلوم ہے . الله کا عذاب ہم پر نازل ہو چکا ہے مڈل ایسٹ جہاں سے ان کو ڈالر ملتے ہیں ووہاں کیا ہوتا ہے پڑھینن .

کم از کم چار اقدامات

قرآن حدیث میں کہیں بھی نہیں کہا گیا کہ جلسے کرو‘ جلوس کرو۔ ریلی نکالو‘ کانفرنسیں کرو‘ نعرے لگائو۔ امام ابو حنیفہؒ اور ان کے استادِ گرامی امام جعفر صادقؒ نے کتنے جلسوں سے خطاب کیا؟ کتنے جلوس نکالے؟ کتنی ریلیاں منعقد کیں اور کرائیں‘ کتنی شاہراہوں اور چوکوں کو کانفرنسوں سے بند رکھا؟کیا حشر کے روز ہم سے یہ پوچھا جائے گا کہ تم نے کتنے سُنیوں کو مارا‘ کتنے شیعہ قتل کیے؟ کتنے بریلوی‘ کتنے دیو بندی اور کتنے اہلِ حدیث ختم کیے۔ دوسرے مسلک والے سے کتنی نفرت کی؟کیا ہم سے یہ باز پرس ہو گی کہ تم نے اپنی کار کے پچھلے شیشے پر اور اپنی مسجد کی پیشانی پر اپنے عقیدے کا اعلان کیوں نہ کیا؟ایک پابندِ صوم و صلوٰۃ نوجوان روہانسا ہو کر بتا رہا تھا کہ فلاں بزرگ صورت نے اُسے کہا کہ تمہاری شکل یہودیوں والی ہے۔ لطیفہ یہ ہے کہ بزرگ صورت نے پوری زندگی کسی یہودی کو نہیںدیکھا تھاورنہ یہ کہتے ہوئے کئی بار سوچتے۔
اعداد وشمار کچھ اور بتاتے ہیں۔ فحش فلمیں اور ممنوعہ جنسی مناظر دیکھنے میں‘ گوگل کے سروے کے مطابق‘ یہ ملک سرِفہرست ہے۔ جھوٹ اوروعدہ خلافی اس قدر عام ہے کہ انہیں برائی سمجھا ہی نہیں جاتا۔ افریقہ کو چھوڑ دیا جائے تو پوری دنیا میں جعلی خوراک ‘ جعلی دوائیں‘ بے ایمانی ٹیکس چوری...اور بے شمار دوسری سماجی برائیاں...دنیا بھر کی نسبت یہاں زیادہ ہیں اور کسی کو ان اعداد و شمار سے انکار نہیں! یہ ملک قتل گاہ بن چکا ہے۔ اگر اسے قتل گاہ سے دوبارہ ایسا ملک بنانا ہے جو رہنے کے قابل ہو‘ تو کم از کم چار اقدامات کرنے ہوں گے۔
اوّل۔ مسجدوں اور امام بارگاہوں سے لائوڈ سپیکر مکمل طور پر نکال دیے جائیں۔ یہ کہنا کہ لائوڈ سپیکر صرف اذان کے لیے استعمال ہوں گے‘ خام خیالی ہے۔ لائوڈ سپیکر کی موجودگی میں اس کے استعمال پر پابندی لگانا ناممکن ہے۔
رہی اذان اور خطبہ‘تو کیا لائوڈ سپیکر سے پہلے اذانیں اور خطبے نہیں ہوتے تھے؟اگر کافروں کے ایجاد کردہ لائوڈ سپیکر پر اذان جائز ہے تو کافروں کے ایجاد کردہ ٹیلی ویژن پر کیوں نہیں جائز؟اذان ٹیلی ویژن اور ریڈیو پر ہونی چاہیے۔سنگا پور کی مساجد میں لائوڈ سپیکر استعمال ہو رہے ہیں لیکن آواز مسجد سے باہر نہیں سنائی دیتی۔ ایسا شریفانہ اور قانون پسند استعمال ہماری امام بارگاہوں اور مسجدوں میں ناممکن ہو گا۔
دوم۔ امام بارگاہوں اور مسجدوں سے باہر کسی قسم کے مذہبی مسلکی‘دینی اجتماع‘ جلسے‘ جلوس‘ ریلی‘ کانفرنس پر مکمل پابندی لگانا ہو گی! اس قبیل کی تمام سرگرمیاں مسجدوں‘ امام بارگاہوں کی چار دیواری کے اندر محدود کرنا ہوں گی۔
سوم۔ راستہ گلی‘کوچہ‘سڑک‘شاہراہ کسی صورت میں بند نہیں کرنا ہو گی۔ کسی حاکم یا غیر ملکی وی آئی پی کے لیے رُوٹ نہیں لگے گا۔ کسی سیاسی‘ احتجاجی مذہبی جلوس کی وجہ سے کوئی راستہ بند ہو گا نہ ٹریفک روکی جائے گی!شادی اور موت پر قناتیں اور کرسیاں لگا کر راستہ بند کر دینا‘بدتہذیبی اور جنگلی پن کا بدترین مظاہرہ ہے۔ جنگل میں بھیڑیے بھی راستے پر نہیں‘ بلکہ راستے سے ہٹ کر بیٹھتے ہیں۔
چہارم۔ کسی ایسے گروہ کو انتخابات میں حصہ لینے کی اجازت نہیں ہونی چاہیے جو مذہب‘مسلک‘ فرقے یا عقیدے کی بنیاد پر کام کر رہا ہے۔ کسی شیعہ‘ سنی‘ دیو بندی بریلوی یا اہلِ حدیث تنظیم کو پارلیمنٹ میں داخل کرنے کا کیا جواز ہے؟ پارلیمینٹ کا کام ملک میں معاشی ترقی لانا اور امن و امان قائم کرنا ہے۔ اور وہ اسی حوالے سے حکومت کی رہنمائی کرتی ہے۔ معاشی ترقی‘ مسلکی‘ مذہبی یا فرقہ وارانہ بنیادوں پر نہیں ہو سکتی! اسلام کے نام پر بنی ہوئی سیاسی جماعتوں سے سب سے پہلے یہ پوچھا جانا چاہیے کہ کیا وہ لوگ مسلمان نہیں جو تمہاری جماعت سے باہر ہیں ؟
یہ ہیں وہ چار اقدامات۔ وہ کم سے کم چار اقدامات جن کے بغیر یہ قتل گاہ‘ قتل گاہ ہی رہے گی‘ ملک نہیں بن پائے گی!
یہاں اس واقعہ کا ذکر کرنا برمحل ہے جو کچھ عرصہ قبل متحدہ عرب امارات میں پیش آیا ۔ یہ خبر تقریباً تمام پاکستانی اخبارات میں شائع ہوئی تھی۔...''متحدہ عرب امارات نے معروف سکالر...کے درجنوں پیرو کاروں کو اپنے ملک سے دبئی میں درسِ قرآن کے اجلاس منعقد کرنے کی بناء پر نکال دیا ہے۔ یو اے ای کی حکومت نے کئی پاکستانی خاندانوں کو وارننگ دی ہے کہ فلاں تاریخ تک اپنے کاروبار ختم کر کے ملک سے نکل جائیں۔ یہ مذہبی سرگرمیوں میں ملوث تھے۔ پاکستانی وزارتِ خارجہ کے ترجمان نے بتایا کہ ان لوگوں نے قانون شکنی کی تھی۔ تاہم اسے نکالے جانے والوں کی صحیح تعداد کا علم نہیں۔ترجمان نے بتایا کہ وہاں پرائیویٹ مذہبی اجلاس منع ہیں۔ نمازِ جمعہ کے علاوہ مذہبی اجتماعات کی اجازت نہیں۔ دبئی پولیس نے ستر کے لگ بھگ پاکستانیوں کو مذہبی اجتماع میں شرکت کرنے کی وجہ سے گرفتار کیا ۔ ان میں سے تیس جلا وطن کر دیے گئے جبکہ باقی کو کہا گیا ہے کہ اپنا کاروبار سمیٹیں اور جولائی کے آخر تک ملک چھوڑ دیں‘‘
ایک مسلمان ملک کی حکومت درسِ قرآن کے لیے بھی پرائیویٹ اجتماع کی اجازت نہیں دیتی اور دنیا کے کسی عالم نے‘کسی مکتبِ فکر کے سکالر نے یو اے ای کی حکومت پر غیر اسلامی یا کافر ہونے کا فتویٰ نہیں لگایا۔ ہاں! اگر وہ مسجدوں میں داخل نہ ہونے دیتی تو یہ فتویٰ لگ سکتا تھا۔ یہ ہوتا ہے ملک کو ملک رہنے دینے کے لیے اقدام!ہماری اطلاع کے مطابق مشرقِ وسطیٰ کے بیشتر ملکوں میں اُن تبلیغی گروہوں پر بھی پابندی ہے جو بّرِصغیر کے ملکوں سے جاتے ہیں۔

........http://dunya.com.pk/index.php/author/muhammad-izhar-ul-haq/2013-12-27/5499/76492775
Free-eBooks: http://goo.gl/2xpiv
Peace-Forum Video Channel: http://goo.gl/GLh75

Labels: , , , ,

Protocols of elders of Zion & Wild horse of Media .... سرکش گھوڑا

  • The document 'The Protocols of the Elders of Zion' "הפרוטוקולים של זקני ציון"  surfaced in the Russian Empire, and was first published in 1903. 
  • Book may be downloaded as:
  • Pdf:  http://www.trueczech.110mb.com
  • Book may be downloaded as html: click here >>>>>  Read article below:-
  • Zionism, Bible & Qura.. http://peace-forum.blogspot.com/2011/02/protocols-of-elders-of-zion.html

    • تقریباً ایک سو سترہ سال قبل پوری دنیا پر حکومت کرنے کا منصوبہ ان لوگوں کی نظر میں ایک خواب نہیں تھا بلکہ ایک حقیقت تھی‘ جسے ایک دن پورا ہونا تھا۔ ایک ہزار سال تک دنیا بھر میں در بدر رہنے والی اس قوم کے تین سو کے قریب دانشور، مفکر، فلسفی اور ان کے مذہبی پیشوا، جنہیں ''ربّی‘‘ کہا جاتا ہے‘ سوئٹزرلینڈ کے شہر ''بال‘‘ میں جمع ہوئے۔ ان دانشوروں کا ہدف صرف ایک تھا کہ اس دنیا پر محسوس اور غیر محسوس طریقے سے کیسے مکمل طور پر اختیار حاصل کرنا ہے۔ ان سب نے مل کر ایک حکمتِ عملی ترتیب دی جسے آج کی دنیا ''پروٹوکولز‘‘ ''Protocols of the Elders of Zion'' کے نام سے جانتی ہے۔ یہ ایک خفیہ دستاویز تھی جس کا ایک نسخہ خفیہ تنظیم فری میسن کی ایک اعلیٰ عہدیدار خاتون کے گھر سے چوری ہو گیا اور 1902ء میں اس کے کچھ حصے روس کے دو اخباروں نے شائع کر دیے۔ اس کے بعد 1905ء میں یہ کتابی شکل میں سامنے آ گئی۔ اس سے قبل 1903ء میں اس کتاب کے مختلف زبانوں میں ترجمے بھی ہو چکے تھے۔ جب یہ دستاویز منظر عام پر آئی تو عام طور پر لوگ اسے دیوانے کا خواب سمجھتے تھے۔ کچھ بڑے بڑے عیسائی پادری اسے عیسائیت کے خلاف ایک سازش بھی گردانتے تھے۔ آج تک ان پروٹوکولز کے بارے میں بحث جاری ہے۔ کوئی اسے یہودیوں کے خلاف ایک سازش قرار دیتا ہے کہ اس کو بنیاد بنا کر ان کا یورپ اور خصوصاً جرمنی میں قتل عام کیا گیا، کیونکہ جب جرمنی کا جمہوری رہنما ''ہٹلر‘‘ عوام کی واضح اکثریت سے جیت کر برسر اقتدار آیا تو 1933ء میں اس نے اس دستاویز کو جرمنی کے سکولوں میں پڑھانے کے لیے لازمی قرار دے دیا، لیکن اس سے مختلف ایک رائے یہ ہے کہ یہودیوں نے ایک ہزار سال کی در بدری سے تنگ آ کر اپنے دفاع کے لیے اکٹھے ہونے اور دنیا پر حکومت کرنے کے خواب دیکھے اور ان کی تعبیر ڈھونڈی۔ عموماًکہا جاتا ہے کہ یہ اجلاس 1896ء یا 1897ء میں منعقد ہوا تھا، جس میں دنیا پر محسوس اور غیر محسوس طریقے سے غلبے کا خواب یا حکمت عملی مرتب کی گئی تھی اور طے کیا گیا تھا کہ ایک سو سال کے اندر ہم نے اپنے ہدف کو پورا کر لینا ہے۔ آج کی دنیا یعنی سو سال بعد 1996ء یا 1997ء کی دنیا ہم سب کے سامنے ہے اور تھوڑی سی سمجھ بوجھ رکھنے والا شخص بھی کتنی آسانی سے اس بات کا اندازہ لگا سکتا ہے کہ آج پوری دنیا پر ایک غیر محسوس اور محسوس دونوں طریقے سے یہود کا قبضہ مکمل ہو چکا ہے۔ اس لیے وہ تصور کہ یہ دستاویز جعلی اور من گھڑت تھی اور اسے روس اور جرمنی کے یہود دشمن طبقات نے ان کے قتل عام کا بہانہ بنانے کے لیے تیار کیا تھا، اب دم توڑ چکا ہے اور آج کی دنیا اس بات پر تحقیق کر رہی ہے کہ یہ منصوبہ ساز ذہن کس بلا کے تھے اور انہوں نے ایک طویل مدتی حکمت عملی کو کیسے قابل عمل بنایا اور کس طرح اس پر عمل درآمد کیا۔ اس دستاویز میں کل چوبیس پروٹوکول ہیں۔ ہر ایک پروٹوکول ایک علیحدہ شعبے کے بارے میں علیحد ہ دستاویز ہے۔ پہلا پروٹوکول بنیادی نظریے کی وضاحت کرتا ہے اور دوسرا پروٹوکول اس حکمت عملی کی بنیادی تصویر (Outline) بتاتا ہے اور ان اداروں کا ذکر کرتا ہے جن کو ہاتھ میں لے کر دنیا کا اقتدار حاصل کرنا ہے۔ اس دوسرے پروٹوکول میں سب سے زیادہ ذکر پریس اور میڈیا کا ہے۔ اس کے الفاظ یہ ہیں: '' آج کے دور میں ریاستوں کے پاس ایک ایسی قوت ہے جو لوگوں کے ذہنوں میں خیالات پیدا کرتی اور انہیں آگے بڑھاتی ہے۔ یہ پریس کی قوت ہے۔ پریس کا اصل کردار یہ ہے کہ ناگزیر ضروریات کی نشاندہی کرتا ہے، عوام کی شکایات اور تکالیف کو سامنے لاتا ہے۔ یہ بے اطمینانی اور بے چینی کی فضا بھی پیدا کرتا ہے اور اس کی تشہیر بھی کرتا ہے۔ یہ پریس ہی تو ہے جس کے ذریعے آزادیٔ تقریر کا عملی اظہار ہوتا ہے۔ غیر یہودی ریاستیں چونکہ اس طاقتور حربے کے استعمال سے ناآشنا اور بے بہرہ ہیں، لہٰذا یہ طاقت کلی طور پر ہمارے ہاتھ آ چکی ہے۔ پریس کی وجہ سے ہم خود پسِ پردہ رہ کر غیر یہود عوام پر اثر انداز ہوتے ہیں۔ اسی کے ذریعے ہم سونے جیسی قیمتی دھات پر قابض ہوئے ہیں۔ یہ الگ بات ہے کہ اسے حاصل کرنے کے لیے خون اور آنسوئوں کے سمندر سے گزرنا پڑا ہے، اپنے بہت سے عزیزوں کی قربانی دی ہے، لیکن اس سے ہمیں بے بہا فائدہ بھی پہنچا ہے۔ یاد رکھیے کہ ہمارا ہر فرد ظلم و ستم کا نشانہ بنا ہے۔ خدا کی نظروں میں ہمارا ایک فرد ہزار غیر یہودی افراد کے برابر ہے‘‘۔

    میڈیا اور اس کے ذریعے دنیا کی تسخیر ایک ذریعہ ہے جسے پروٹوکول کے ابتدائیہ ہی میں تسلیم کر لیاگیا تھا۔ لیکن بارہواں پروٹوکول مکمل طور پر پریس کی طاقت اور قوت کے استعمال کے بارے میں تحریر کیا گیا ہے۔ یہاں اس باب میں درج اہم سطور دیکھیے اور حیران رہ جائیے کہ ایک صدی پہلے دیکھا جانے والا یہ خواب اب کیسے حقیقت بن چکا ہے: '' ہم میڈیا کے سرکش گھوڑے پر سوار ہو کر اس کی باگ کو اپنے قبضے میں رکھیں گے، ہم اپنے دشمنوں کے قبضے میں کوئی ایسا موثر اور طاقت ور اخبار نہیں رہنے دیں گے کہ وہ اپنی رائے کو موثر ڈھنگ سے لوگوں کو بتا سکیں اور نہ ہی ہم ان کو اس قابل چھوڑیں گے کہ ہماری نگاہوں سے گزرے بغیر کوئی خبر لوگوں تک پہنچ سکے۔ ہمارے قبضے میں ایسے اخبارات و رسائل ہوں گے جو مختلف گروہوں کی تائید و حمایت حاصل کریں گے۔ خواہ یہ جماعتیں جمہوریت کی علمبردار ہوں یا انقلاب کی داعی۔ حتیٰ کہ ہم ایسے اخبارات کی بھی سرپرستی کریں گے جو انتشار و بے راہ روی، جنسی و اخلاقی انارکی یہاں تک کہ ظالم و جابر حکومتوں اور ڈکٹیٹروں اور آمروں کا دفاع اور حمایت کرتے ہوں گے۔ ہم اس انداز اور اسلوب سے خبروں کو پیش کریں گے کہ قومیں اور حکومتیں ان کو قبول کرنے پر مجبور ہو جائیں گی۔ ہم یہودی ایسے دانشوروں، ایڈیٹروں اور نامہ نگاروں کی حوصلہ افزائی کریں گے جو بدکردار ہوں اور خطرناک مجرمانہ ریکارڈ رکھتے ہوں۔ ہم ذرائع ابلاغ کو خبر رساں ایجنسیوں کے ذریعے کنٹرول کریں گے۔ ہم دنیا کو جس رنگ کی تصویر دکھانا چاہیں گے وہ پوری دنیا کو دیکھنا ہو گی‘‘۔
    ان اہداف پر غور کریں اور پھر آج دنیا بھر کے میڈیا پر ایک نظر دوڑائیں تو آپ کو یہ بات سمجھنے میں زیادہ دیر نہیں لگے گی کہ یہ تمام اہداف حاصل ہو چکے ہیں۔ اس وقت دنیا کا 97 فیصد میڈیا تین بڑی کمپنیوں کی ملکیت ہے اور یہی میڈیا باقی چھوٹے چھوٹے میڈیا ہائوسز کا رخ متعین کرتا ہے۔ آج کا دور وہ زمانہ ہے کہ سیدالانبیاء ﷺ نے جس کے بارے میں خبر دی تھی، وہ دور کہ جس کے بارے میں آپ کے فرمان کے مطابق اسلام اجنبیت میں چلا جائے گا۔ صحیح مسلم کی اس حدیث حسن کے الفاظ یہ ہیں: حضرت عبداللہ ابن عمر نے نبی کریم ﷺ کا ارشاد نقل کرتے ہوئے فرمایا کہ '' اسلام کی ابتداء بھی اجنبیت کی حالت میں ہوئی تھی اور عنقریب دوبارہ اجنبیت کی حالت کی طرف لوٹے گا‘‘۔ یہ اجنبیت کیوں ہے؟ یہ بے نام و نشاں ڈیڑھ ارب سے زیادہ مسلمان کس لیے دربدر ہیں؟ اس لیے کہ آج کے دور کے سرکش گھوڑے کی لگامیں ان کے ہاتھ میں ہیں جو ہمیں روندنے کا عزم رکھتے تھے اور اسے پورا کر رہے ہیں۔ لیکن یہ ڈیڑھ ارب سے زیادہ بے نام و نشاں مسلمان اس سرکش گھوڑے کی ٹاپوں تلے مسلے جانے کے بعد بھی اسی گھوڑے سے توقع رکھتے ہیں، اسی سے گلہ کرتے ہیں، اسی کو کہتے ہیں کہ ہمارا سچ بھی دکھائو۔ ایسا نہیں ہو گا، ہرگز نہیں ہو گا۔ یا تو اس سرکش گھوڑے کی باگ اپنے ہاتھ میں لے لو یا پھر اس کے مقابل اپنا '' اسپ تازی‘‘ لے کر میدان میں نکلو۔
    Free-eBooks: http://goo.gl/2xpiv
    Peace-Forum Video Channel: http://goo.gl/GLh75

    Labels: , , , , , ,

    Incompatible with technology

    WHAT is one to make of the societal exhortation to focus the nation’s energies on acquiring scientific knowledge and updating the technological base to traverse the 21st century with some degree of confidence? Although it may appear fashionable to be pessimistic about our chances of ‘making it’, one wonders how we can imbibe scientific thoughts and methods with the intellectual baggage we carry. Can we reinvent and modernise government and private businesses? Does the youth and new breed of young entrepreneurs provide greater future hope?

    Any nation’s response to technological change is partly influenced by the environment and partly by genetics. Pakistani society is inherently at odds with technology. Whereas axiomatic reasoning and treatment defies any prior knowledge, we take many things as given — prior beliefs cannot be questioned. We are a nation of believers. We are used to being given ideas and accepting them. For example, the educational examination systems are based on the concept of the textbook as gospel. Then there is the socio-cultural set-up which insists that our elders, our religion, etc, are always right. Such an environment is incompatible with scientific analysis.

    The process of analysis is missing only partly because of the lack of literacy and poor quality of education. Its absence is more because of our beliefs. We cannot ‘discover things’ for ourselves and are, therefore, excluded from participating in the development of technology involving innovation, automation, analysis and information gathering. In other words, the support base for technological growth is weak.

    We can admittedly import technology (through the process of technology transfer) but within severe limits. The industrial sector has little need for local technology. Both private- and public-sector managers seek more dependable sources in international markets against whose purchases they can retain some foreign exchange abroad (through commissions or over-invoicing of imported goods). We, therefore, have a technologically dependent industrial structure whose machinery and technical processes have primarily been imported. Thus, there’s little scope or incentive for indigenous technology to blossom.

    Whole-scale import of technology also becomes a problem, not because those who have developed it will not part with it easily but because technology must improve productivity, and productivity is a marginal concept. In a society where profits are made without competition and on merit but by ‘fixing’ deals and arranging ‘desired’ import duties and sales tax rates through the infamous SROs, productivity is an alien concept. In a system in which the well-connected prosper through the abuse of discretionary powers without fear of being challenged there’s no need for professionals, quality management or the technology embodied in people — human capital.

    As the system is not driven by productivity considerations adapting to local conditions becomes a problem. When promotions in the public sector are based on seniority or ‘right contacts’ and not on merit and performance, how can the state system recognise and reward productivity? The incongruence of society with technology has made technology and scientific methods irrelevant.

    Technology is like a hybrid in our society. Hybrids like a kinnoo, a mule, etc, cannot reproduce themselves. You cannot nurture these concepts because the processes and requirements for doing so are missing — in particular, the support base and cultural environment for technological growth.

    Our value function for time is also short. We don’t believe there’ll be a tomorrow. This has been prompted not just by political uncertainty but more by insecurity and fear that the system will not be fair, the rules of the game will be changed to suit family, friends, patrons, etc. Rent-seeking elites have traditionally dictated industrial and trade policies. The system lacks transparency because there’s no commitment to the need for a level playing field.

    Then there’s the fear of change caused by technology because of lack of control over it. For example, businessmen do not computerise their accounts because they want to maintain two sets of books — one for themselves, one for the tax authorities. For the older generation of businessmen with limited exposure to computers, controlling a manual system maintained by the accountant is simpler than a computerised system which can also maintain two sets of books.

    However, in the latter case, the businessman, essentially because of his own lack of knowledge, is not confident that he can exercise the kind of the control he does in a manual system for recording transaction.

    Similarly, bureaucrats fear loss of control over information which gives them special privileges and powers. In such an administrative culture, acceptability of technology becomes a problem.

    Finally, there is lack of institutional capacity to undertake scientific and technological research of even basic nature, to adapt simple technology to local conditions, because the state does not have the management capability to even affect transfer of technology let alone promote technological growth.

    The bulk of local science and technological research, despite the heavy rhetoric, is run by mediocre individuals whose work is of poor quality and irrelevant to the country’s developmental requirements. Scientific research is planned by bureaucrats. They manage the science in this country, and the few scientists in the top echelons of management in the different science-related departments and institutions function mainly as scientist-bureaucrats. It will, therefore, serve little purpose to pull up the establishments dealing with science in Pakistan for their abysmal failure in not seriously attempting to solve the problems confronting the nation.

    However, change is afoot which provides hope for the future. This includes massive improvements in access to internet, new and younger businessmen/entrepreneurs seeking a more competitive environment, an assertive media and growth in social media, the demands on government to share information and the resulting legislation for Freedom of Information, etc.

    BY SHAHID KARDAR: The writer is the vice chancellor of Beaconhouse National University.
    http://www.dawn.com/news/1076074/incompatible-with-technology
    Free-eBooks: http://goo.gl/2xpiv
    Peace-Forum Video Channel: http://goo.gl/GLh75

    Labels: , ,

    Dispatches from Waziristan

    The mood here is pensive. I was here in the spring, when most of the IDPs had returned, and the brigade commander and his staff were boisterous about their recent achievements.
    From sanitisation operations, which are small-scale `mop up` eneasements. to trackine sub-trib-al politics, they seemed sure of themselves. Now, most of the junior officers (the adjutant, the brigade major) are the same, but the new brigadier is still settling in.

    Almost everybody is offcolour. They`ve just been recently hit, hard.

    The new brigadier got a bitof a welcome party in just his first week, officers recall. They had picked up signal chatter a month ago, but they hadn`t been able to process it because the intel was too disconnected.

    All they knew was that the insurgents had gotten hold of some uniforms.

    That`s it.

    Meanwhile, the army`s new `digital camo` uniforms had still not arrived for all the units stationed in this sector held by the 327 for a couple of years now.

    Some of the officers who had been toPindi for down time or briefings were sporting the new gear. Most of the rest of the troops were not. That proved to be a critical logistical lapse. When they came in, around a week into the new brigadier`s stint, the six insurgents were all wearing the old uniforms. So they blended in, because so many units move up and down the new road. That allowed them to take the initiative: all you need in an engagement here.

    The firefight lasted a couple of hours.

    Three of the insurgents were gunmen, the other three `suiciders`. Before he blew himself up, one of them even managed to get just inside the ring of fire, the Brigade Headquarters` officers` complex itself, ironically built around the residence of Khan Gul, a militant commander who was killed in a drone strike in 2012. The 327 took losses: one soldier was killed, two injured. They hadn`t seen them coming.

    That`s why the officers were pensive, even angry at themselves.

    Later, visiting the public square cum market the 40th Division has built (which features a tailor, a butcher, a tea stall, a hardware depot, a blacksmith, even a barber-shop, which is a tough sell around these parts), the edginess didn`t disappear as interactions with the locals began.

    `We haven`t had an attack here in months. More than a year, even,` said acaptain. `An attack of such scale doesn`t mean they`re coming back. But it means they`re around. And it also means there was some sort of local support. After all we`ve been through together, the locals and us, that`s unacceptable.

    A Punjabi officer shouted out greetings in recently learnt Pashto, which were reciprocated. But the locals, though friendly enough, sensed the anxiety and some gave it right back. A local Malik praised the road the 40th had built. A young retailer, who had lost two of his elder brothers as they fought for the FC, showed off his wares from a shop that he had been granted for free; but there was tension. Even the local kids were apprehensive, compared to spring.

    Before Rah-i-Nijat, Sararogha was the `tactical headquarters` of Baitullah Mehsud. When he conquered a Frontier Corps fort here, Mehsud razed it to the ground and distributed the bricks for people to reinforce their homes with.

    He was so angry with the stiff resistance the FC had put up that he forbade any of the bricks be used for a mosque.

    This place was the TTP`s seat of power till three divisions secured South Waziristan. Today, Sararogha has a girls` school, though it`s not very well attended.

    The Army is proud of its rehab and development work here, especially the road that runs from north to south through the town, connecting it to Jandola, and further on, to the settled area of D.I. Khan via Tank. But the army versus local divide persists, heavily dependent on how individual officers breach it. The former 327 brigadecommander had actually learnt the local variant of Pashto, and was married to the place as he volunteered for a second tour here. Other officers choose to be more distant. It`s a personal choice.

    Operationally, the weakness of gathering and then processing tactical intelligence remains, and the recent attack proved it. Though chatter gets picked up by signals officers embedded with infantry units, with local Pashto specialists aiding them, there is no one, uniform method by which intel is processed. A few officers showed me the 327`s procedure: an Excel spreadsheet, complete with smart functions, that the brigade has developed to match and tally chatter with insurgent operations; but its retrospective, they admit, not allowing them to always pre-empt a militant strike before it happens.

    There`s also a capacity problem; at the brigade level and lower; crucial chatter transcriptions will not travel all the way up on busy days. They tell me about the Russians, who had a KGB officer embedded with every unit, back in the day. The Americans too have intel specialists built into smaller, forward formations, across the border. No such thing in Pakistan`s units: the old spy/soldier divide remains, and the spies only talk to the brass, at Division HQ. The directives for singular platforms, where sharing and processing of vital pre-operational data is built around `neteentricity` will have to come from the Military Operations directorate, they surmise.

    `They`re working on it,` says a major, accepting a warm Mountain Dew from a local bakery owner. `The MO is always working on something.`

    DAY 4: 2030 Spinkai-Raghzai, South Waziristan, Officer`s Mess of (unnamed) Baloch Regiment, 327 Brigade, 40th Division
           
    Increase font size  Decrease font size  Reset font size
    | 12/22/2013 12:00:00 AM
    `The Hunting Party` It`s VUCA,` said the commanding officer (CO), whose unit patrols the eastern shoulder of what the Army calls the `Mehsud Triangle` the gaping area once dominated by Mehsud tribesmen that is now flanked on the east by the 40th Division and held on the west by the 9th Division. `It`s totally VUCA, this place.

    `Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous, he wisps into the smoke filled room, with Hamid Mir pontificating on the flat screen. `Volatile because the nature, speed, volume, magnitude and dynamics of events change all the time. Uncertain because of the lack of predictability of events and issues. Complex because of the interconnectivity ofvarious and different parts that confound those issues. And ambiguous, because reality is hazy, mixed confusingly with the meaning of conditions.

    We`re having, believe it or not, perfectly crusted chicken pot pie. Complete with cheese, mushrooms, potatoes and Dunhills. `I picked up the recipe at (names the Western military academy he`s recently trained at). The chef here took some time to adapt to it. We don`t have much to do here except fight and eat. So we do both...we have a lot of time to improve both those skills.

    Under a picture of the Chief of Army Staff and the colonel commandant of his regiment, there is a framed still from the field. I count 18 in all, officers and soldiers, wearing their tac-gear, bandoliers and a Waziristani sunburn, looking like they all need sleep and showers. The name and date of the operation, which happened this summer, and a commendation from the 327 Brigade, is etched under the picture.

    `That was fun...A hunting party,` says the CO.

    `We had been picking up chatter for days and we knew, roughly, of a location that these guys were hiding out in. We had estimated around 20 to 30 of them to be there. So I put together a contingent, got permissions, and took off. We were tired of sitting around.

    `We pre-streamed two fully charged iPads with the estimated Google Maps location our intel had indicated these guys were at. We drove for half a day, till the track finished. We kept going, on foot, on light rations, and dropped our heavy weapons.

    We walked for two days and nights. We slept on therocks, and hid in caves. We moved at night. We had borrowed these new lights [gear specifics cannot be named] from the SSG [Special Service Group, the army`s special operations formation], which helped us along.

    `When we made contact, on the third afternoon, we had just 12 percent of batteries left on our second iPad. I remember that. Most of our cigarettes were also gone, which is always a bad sign. We were getting tired. We had Steyrs [Austrian-made sniper rifles], a couple of Dragunovs [Russian-made sniper rifles], RPGs [rocket propelled grenades], and our regular kit with SMGs {Type 56s, Chinese variants of the AK-47].

    `Our intel had been good on location, but bad about the numbers. There were more than 20 of them. Much, much more than 20. We engaged through our snipers from the high ground, then took out a couple of their compounds with the RPGs.

    They swarmed out, and kept coming, from a hidden enclave in the rear that we hadn`t seen. We kept engaging.

    `They had solar panels. They had sat phones.

    They had mortars. The hot part of the engagement lasted around 45 minutes.

    `We eventually called in aviation. We had to, as I didn`t want to carry a single shaheed back. But Google Maps, Zindabad.

    `I don`t have drones and satellites, but I have what the Americans don`t: ownership. That`s why we`re innovative. We could have just sat there and done nothing, or we could have engaged. So we engaged and had a hunting party. More pie?`

    H00 Angoor Adda, South Waziristan/Afghanistan border, Wing Headquarters of (Unnamed) Wing of Frontier Corps, 9th Infantry Division
           
    Increase font size  Decrease font size  Reset font size
    | 12/22/2013 12:00:00 AM
    his place looks like the end of the world. Ridgelines that look like blunted razors, dust that stings and sun that cuts. For many, the world does end here, as Afghanistan begins. But the locals keep on living and moving. Mostly Wazirs, they come and go across the border: on foot, on motorcycles, in pick-up trucks, sedans and lorries. The border crossing is manned by one of the older FC wings. The commandant is a Punjabi, but all the men are Pakhtun. It`s a normal day, as the FC is doing its regular border patrolling. Truck drivers are allowed to brandish weapons to protect themselves.

    This is Wazir land, after all.

    They`re more laid back than the Mehsuds, these Ahmadzai Wazirs, who dominate here with five sub-tribes, rivalled by the Sulaiman Khel, who have two sub-tribes. Four Taliban groups Shamsullah, Halimullah, Malang and the feared Commander Nazir Group operate here, abetted and/or rivaled by at least five `independent` Taliban field commanders: Khalid (Zali Khel), Sultan (Toji Khel), Tariq (Punjabi), Gade Khan (Toji Khel), Waliullah (Gangi Khel) and Saifullah (Toji Khel). The tribal-militant matrix is confusing, and I have to go through an organogram that the commandant makes in the dirt with his cane to understand the rules. What`s obvious enough, however, is the strongest political and physical structures in town are, ironically enough, the consortium of mosques that are led by four Maulanas of varying hues. The state doesn`t matter here, nor exist; except for the FC, whose commander gets by on good will, using his 395 Corpsmen and 26 regular army troops to build schools, repair shops, attend the jirgas and, of course, play bad cop.

    A construction crew is working a new petrol pump, as the old one has seen too many firefights break out for possession and first dibs when the supply is low. As this is a transit point of a border town, I see more women covered up of course than I have seen so far. There are no slits in the burqas, like the ones you see in the mainland; just pierced pocks. Nor are they black, also a mainland trend, neither red, as seen in Kabul. This is white and blue burqa land. Only pre-pubescent girls are un-burqa`d, but even a fouryear-old has a dupatta.

    Kids in uniforms from a local school are crossing over to go back to their homes on the Afghan side. So is a chicken vendor with a low-flung Hilux filled with birds and assistants. The Durand Line is less than well imagined for these divided tribes: For them, it`s sub-fictional. Here, they`re married to their land, not their countries. My roaming indicator shows that only an Afghan cellular service provider is available. This is the Pakistani part of Tribalistan, really. The market itself is subsistence-level; everybody is driving some beat up version of a Toyota. `Woodtrade, coal, livestock, agriculture` are the professions that my intel briefing claims the locals are involved in, but I spot a few mechanics and some madressah students; most men are just ambling around.

    Troops from the Afghan National Army (ANA) are stationed around 30 metres away from the official border crossing, which is better paved on the Pakistani side thanks to a new road the Corps of Engineers have laid withAmerican and UAE funding. A couple of the ANA are wearing baseball caps, one red and one yellow, and the guy with the red cap has it on backwards, like a street gang member from an American inner city. But their watchtowers are brandnew, as are their barracks and searchlights. `A gift from Nato,` mutters the commandant of the FC Wing. `Let`s see if they behave like they deserve it.There have been cross-border tensions here. `We took fire on March 23, heavy fire,` says the commandant, an infantryman with a big voice that is flattened by his Gold Leafs. `Then on August 14, too.

    Then, on the 15th, they had fireworks.

    Actual, colourful, fireworks.

    I can read the sub-text of the complaint: The ANA has `Indian backing` allege most of the operational and intelligence officers I`ve often met on this side.

    But the fireworks anecdote, on India`s Independence Day, is a new one.

    `Communication is the best medicine,` claims the commandant. The illconstructed proverb has substance, though.

    `Every Wednesday, at 2100 hours, I speak to my counterpart across the border. I`ve got my interpreter, who speaks Pashto. That CO there has got his Pakhtun aide, as he is a Dari speaker himself.

    `We started this hotline around a couple of months ago, soon after the Americans left. When we heard that the Indians left along with the Yanks, we reached out. And it worked. Directly talking to the Afghans has helped.

    `Firing is down. As are mortar engagements. They`ve shot at us to pressur-ise us to stop cross-border movement, which is not always controllable because of this so-called border and the demands of the tribes; but hitting us only makes matters worse because we`re forced to hit back.

    `We`ve started sharing intel now.

    There`s still distrust, but both of us have created a window.

    My ride, an MI-17, has a crew thatdoesn`t appreciate sunsets, nor bunking overnight in a dusty border town`s FC Wing that`s seen two American incursions, boots on the ground and all that. Aviators are pushy, and prefer asphalt under their tires when it`s lights out. I`m summoned, and move to the helipad. Next stop, the 7th Division`s HQ.

    Between the static induced by Talib jammers below us, I have an in-flight comm-set debate with the pilots about the bandwidth of the free wi-fi that awaits us, code for the longevity of the Viber chat we are looking forward to with our wives when we bunk up at the Golden Arrow Hotel (as Miranshah`s officers` quarters are referred to, a cheeky reference to the formation sign of the 7th Division as well as the mosquitoes that plague it).

    The wi-fi is not a luxury. We will need to talk to our wives: Midnight artillery fire makes for gentlemanly insomniacs.

    And North Waziristan is a lonely place, anyway. Even with 20,000 hardened militants willing to offer their company. E The writer is a producer/correspondent for NBC News. He tweets at @WajSKhan
    http://epaper.dawn.com/?page=22_12_2013_426

    Free-eBooks: http://goo.gl/2xpiv
    Peace-Forum Video Channel: http://goo.gl/GLh75

    Labels: , , , ,

    Balochistan: madressahs the fallback option

    AT the age of 40, Abdul Rahim Jan earns a meagre income of Rs9,000 a month selling potatoes off a pushcart in the dusty Nawan Killi area of Quetta.

    `I cannot pay school fees or buy costly books for my children,` he tells Dawn. So his nine-yearold son and seven-yearold daughter study in two seminaries. `The madressahs provide free religious education and food to them,` he says.

    In Balochistan, there are thousands of families like that of Rahim Jan, pushed by a combination of religious, political and social factors into sending their children to madressahs. The madressah network, which is widely accused of recruiting `jihadis` and financing militancy, is not just spreading rapidly here but is also actively discouraging formal schooling. Yet where the religious-right is manipulating the situation, the government`s shortcomings are glaring, too: over 10,000 settlements across Balochistan have no schools at all, and the province has 2.3 million children out of school.

    The Balochistan government has passed a bill declaring education free and compulsory under Article 25(a) of the constitution. Yet even those who could be in a position to improve matters present an alarming picture.

    Sardar Raza Muhammad Bareech, for instance, is the adviser on education to the provincial chief minister. `Can you believe that there`s a high school for girls in the heart of Quetta that has no functioning toilet?` he points out. The institution to which he refers has more than 2,500 students. In Mr Bareech`s view, `we need to recruit some 60,000 new teachers and open about 13,000 new schools` to meet the target of educating all of Balochistan`s children.

    Figures available with the provincial education department show that there are 57,000 teachersprovince has 2.3 million children out of school.

    The Balochistan government has passed a bill declaring education free and compulsory under Article 25(a) of the constitution. Yet even those who could be in a position to improve matters present an alarming picture.

    Sardar Raza Muhammad Bareech, for instance, is the adviser on education to the provincial chief minister. `Can you believe that there`s a high school for girls in the heart of Quetta that has no functioning toilet?` he points out. The institution to which he refers has more than 2,500 students. In Mr Bareech`s view, `we need to recruit some 60,000 new teachers and open about 13,000 new schools` to meet the target of educating all of Balochistan`s children.

    Figures available with the provincial education department show that there are 57,000 teachersemployed in 12,600 primary, middle and high schools in Balochistan. But the provincial secretary for education, Ghulam Ali Baloch, says that there are more than 2,000 `ghost` schools with around 4,000 `ghost` teachers institutions and educationists that are dysfunctional or exist solely on paper.

    Independent sources and educationists put these numbers even higher: wellknown educationist Nazar Muhammad Bareech, for instance, claims that there are more than 10,000 `ghost` teachers.

    Meanwhile, according to Ghulam Ali Baloch, almost half of the 22,000 settlements across the province have no schools at all.

    In the absence of schools, madressahs have mushroomed up in Quetta and in other parts of the province.

    After the events of 9/11, when Pervez Musharraf decided that all seminaries across the country must be registered, in Balochistan the task fell to the Department of Industriesemployed in 12,600 primary, middle and high schools in Balochistan. But the provincial secretary for education, Ghulam Ali Baloch, says that there are more than 2,000 `ghost` schools with around 4,000 `ghost` teachers institutions and educationists that are dysfunctional or exist solely on paper.

    Independent sources and educationists put these numbers even higher: wellknown educationist Nazar Muhammad Bareech, for instance, claims that there are more than 10,000 `ghost` teachers.

    Meanwhile, according to Ghulam Ali Baloch, almost half of the 22,000 settlements across the province have no schools at all.

    In the absence of schools, madressahs have mushroomed up in Quetta and in other parts of the province.

    After the events of 9/11, when Pervez Musharraf decided that all seminaries across the country must be registered, in Balochistan the task fell to the Department of Industriesand Commerce. An officer of this department told Dawn on the condition of anonymity that around 2,500 madressahs are registered with the Balochistan government, and the number of unregistered seminaries lies at more than 10,000. `Most of them are located in the areas bordering Afghanistan,` he said.

    As in other parts of the country, Islamic fundamentalism in Balochistan can be traced back to Ziaul Haq`s `Islamisation` policies. But the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in the wake of 9/11 contributed significantly to boosting radicalisation in the Pakhtun-dominated areas of the province.

    Madressahs have been used to recruit fighters and finance militancy. But they also provide accommodation, clothes, food and books to their students, a lure that poor people, especially in isolated areas, find attractive.

    Yet the challenges thrown up by religion, poverty and other factorscould be countered if only there were sufficient government schools.

    Educationist Zubaida Jalal, a former federal minister for education, believes that `the government has failed to educate children.` She maintains that it is a myth that the sardars, or feudal lords,are an obstaclein the way of education in this province, and feels that poverty and unemployment are yet to be addressed here. `These issues are a hundred per cent behind the radicalisation,` she says.

    Cumulatively, the situation is such that the demand for madressahs in Balochistan seems to be increasing.

    Maulana Abdul Qadir Looni, the mohtamim or organiser of the Madressah Naumania and the secretary general of the Jamiat Ulema-i-IslamIdeological, told Dawn that his institution provides religious education to 145 students. The number of students is constantly rising at seminaries, he said, but `we have no space to give admission to new pupils.
    By Syed Ali Shah : http://epaper.dawn.com/DetailImage.php?StoryImage=22_12_2013_001_007
    Free-eBooks: http://goo.gl/2xpiv
    Peace-Forum Video Channel: http://goo.gl/GLh75

    Labels: , , , ,

    In through the out door Hizb ut Tahrir

    Many young educated Pakistanis are struggling to find political, social and economic examples of the faith-driven utopia that they were told Pakistan was to become.

    These young people are the products of the myopic narratives about Pakistani nationhood and religion found in our textbooks and the populist media.

    The problem with many among this generation of young middle-class men and women is that unlike the earlier generations, they seem to have wholly bought into the charade of a religion-based utopia they were told the founding fathers had supposedly conceptualised.

    This has happened in spite of the fact that today they have more opportunities to acquire modern education and information than ever before.

    But this generation has decided to somewhat block and deflect alternative narratives that attempt to counter the one that defines Pakistan as some unique experiment to achieve a religious, nationalist and political singularity.

    A good part of this dilemma is also about how many young Pakistanis feel awkward when their modern lifestyles fail to relate and connect with the brutal ways of extremist outfits or the conventional religious groups that claim to be the main expressions of the faith-based utopian narrative.

    So, as if feeling guilty about this, this generation has concocted various escape routes with the help of modern-looking Islamic televangelists and evangelists through which they believe they can keep one foot in religion and the other in the modern material world.

    On the political stage, many have adopted passionate leaders, perhaps because these leaders too are an example of the dilemma this generation is going through: i.e. masking and expressing a reactive political and social conservatism as something entirely compatible with ‘genuine’ liberal/democratic values (as opposed to the so-called ‘fake’ ones).

    On a more disturbing level, there are also some who have become vulnerable to what can be described as the more modern and subtle face of religious extremism: The Hizbut Tahrir (HT).

    The HT was formed in 1953 in Jerusalem by a former Muslim Brotherhood member. His professed goal was to unite the Muslim world under a single political entity (Caliphate) and the Sharia (or his version of it).

    In the 1950s and 1960s the HT was mostly active in Arab countries. In the 1970s it got involved in various coup attempts in Jordan, Syria and Iraq.

    Planned with a handful of military men and political clerics, the coup attempts, however, were easily crushed.

    The setbacks saw many HT leaders escaping to European countries, especially the UK. There the HT came into contact with the second generation of young Pakistanis, Muslim Indians and Bangladeshis settled in the UK. Though staunchly anti-West, the HT was tolerated in Britain because it was also vocal against the Soviet Union.

    It was during this period that HT began reworking its idea of a world caliphate. And since it was now operating in Europe, its activists began dressing in Western clothes, speaking in English and using modern political symbolism to communicate what was otherwise an almost entirely utopian idea of international caliphate.

    With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the HT began sending its well-dressed and articulate recruits to Central Asian countries. But more than ever, the focus was now more on Pakistan.

    Being the country most affected by the Afghan civil war (of the 1980s), a number of extremist and sectarian organisations had emerged in Pakistan.

    The fallout of the war also included the state-sponsored ‘Islamisation’ process in Pakistan and the ideological and theological confusion that set in at the end of the Cold War. This confusion engulfed the urban middle-classes.

    Facing a regenerated conservatism, this class reached out to ‘rediscover’ its Islamic roots (without letting go of modern material aspirations, of course).

    The same happened in certain sections of the country’s military as well. By the early 1990s HT had begun to infiltrate privately-owned university and college campuses (especially in Lahore) with the help of sympathetic professors and teachers. It began recruiting junior and mid-level military officers too.

    The HT bypassed terrorism and concentrated on building support among middle-class students, professionals and military officers.

    After 9/11, HT’s leadership was convinced that Pakistan was ready to become the launching pad for an international caliphate. And it planned to use elements within the military to achieve this. Violence was not far behind.

    In 2003, the HT was accused of being involved in an assassination attempt against General Musharraf. And then an army captain associated with the HT was arrested for plotting a military coup.

    In 2004, HT established links with about 13 commandos of the army’s Special Services Group (SSG). In 2009, officers up to the ranks of lieutenant colonel faced court martial for links with HT and in 2011 a brigadier faced the same charges.

    In August 2012, a military court convicted Brigadier Ali Khan, Major Sohail Akbar, Major Jawad Baseer, Major Inayat Aziz and Major Iftikhar for having links with HT and sentenced them to rigorous imprisonment for terms ranging from five years to 18 months.

    According to a former HT man, Majid Nawaz, the HT does not discount the use of violence through the converted military men in its goal of toppling the Pakistan government and the military’s top leadership to ‘establish a Caliphate state’.

    Though the HT is banned in Pakistan, a recent report suggests it still has sympathetic groups operating within the armed forces and in various private universities.

    The HT has given the somewhat concocted notion of political Islam a contemporary dimension. By using modern economic and political symbolism it has reconstructed this notion as a largely utopian and farcical model for some sort of a golden, all-conquering future.
    By Nadeem F Piracha: http://www.dawn.com/news/1074072/in-through-the-out-door
    Free-eBooks: http://goo.gl/2xpiv
    Peace-Forum Video Channel: http://goo.gl/GLh75

    Labels: , , ,

    چہرے نہیں سسٹم بدلنا ہوگا Change Political system of Pakistan not mere faces

    اگر تاریخ کوئی سبق دیتی ہے تو سمجھ لینا چاہیے کہ ہم بحیثیت قوم اپنی آزادی کے وقت سے جس تبدیلی کا بے تابی سے انتظار کر رہے ہیں اسے معجزہ ہی لا سکتا ہے۔ ہماری داستان ایک ایسے سماج کی ہے جو چھیاسٹھ برس سے ایک ہی دائرے میں بے مقصد چکر لگائے جا رہا ہے۔ جمہوریت‘ قانون کی پاسداری اور اچھی حکمرانی کا فقدان اس کی روش بن چکی ہے۔ بدقسمتی سے ایک نو آزاد قوم کے طور پر ہم آزادی سے وابستہ ان چیلنجوں کا مقابلہ نہیں کر پائے جو ہمارے جیو پولیٹیکل حالات اور سماجی بُنت کا حصہ تھے۔ 

    ہمارا اصل مسئلہ یہ ہے کہ ملک کے اقتدار پر جاگیرداروں‘ قبائل اور اشرافیہ کی بالادستی اپنی جڑیں اتنی گہری کر چکی ہے کہ یہ نظام میں کوئی ایسی تبدیلی نہیں لانے دیتی جو اُسے راس نہ آتی ہو۔ وہ صرف اپنے مفاد کی خاطر آئین میں ترامیم کرتے ہیں۔ اس کا سب سے زیادہ نقصان ریاستی اداروں اور قومی سلامتی کو پہنچا اور اس کے نتیجے میں ملک کا ایک ایسا سیاسی نظام وضع نہیں کیا جا سکا جو اس کی نسلی اور لسانی طور پر متنوع آبادی کے لیے موزوں ہو۔ 
    ہماری حکمران اشرافیہ نظام کی کمزوریاں دور کرنے اور قومی اتحاد کا باعث بننے والے عوامل پر توجہ دینے کے بجائے ہمیشہ اپنے چھوٹے چھوٹے ذاتی مفادات کو ترجیح دیتی رہی ہے۔ انہوں نے دسمبر 1970ء کے انتخابات میں عوام کی بھاری اکثریت کی طرف سے ظاہر کی گئی آزادانہ رائے کو مسترد کردیا اور اس کے نتیجے میں پیدا ہونے والے بحران کا سیاسی حل تلاش کرنے کے بجائے فوجی حل کا راستہ اختیار کیا؛ چنانچہ سقوط ڈھاکہ کے المناک سانحہ کے ساتھ اصل پاکستان غائب ہو گیا۔ ہم نے اپنی غلطیوں سے کوئی سبق نہ سیکھا اور انہی کو دہراتے چلے جا رہے ہیں۔ 
    افسوس! 1971ء کے المیے کا سبب بننے والی وجوہات کا 1973ء کے آئین میں کوئی مداوا نہ کیا گیا۔ وہ لوگ جنہیں آئین سازی کا مینڈیٹ حاصل نہ تھا بلکہ جو پاکستان ٹوٹنے پر منتج ہونے والے پارلیمانی ڈیڈ لاک کے ذمہ دار تھے‘ 1973ء کے ناقص آئین کے مصنفین بن بیٹھے۔ اب تک اس آئین میں بیس ترامیم ہو چکی ہیں‘ لیکن کسی بھی حکومت نے ملک کے جاگیرداری نظام میں موجود تاریخی غلطیوں کو درست کرنے یا صوبوں کی شکایات دور کرنے کی کوئی کوشش نہیں کی۔ ہمارے ملک کے عجیب و غریب سماجی و اقتصادی ڈھانچے اور سیاسی کلچر نے‘ جس کی اساس جاگیردارانہ اور قبائلی روایت پر ہے‘ ملک کو غربت اور ناخواندگی کے علاوہ اقتدار اور دولت کی عدم مساوات سے دوچار کیا ہے۔ اس صورت حال کا تقاضا یہ ہے کہ سماجی‘ اقتصادی اور سیاسی شعبوں میں موجود تمام غیر متوازن عوامل کو درست کرتے ہوئے عوام کو مٹھی بھر مراعات یافتہ طبقے کے استحصال سے نجات دلائی جائے۔ 
    تاریخی غلطیوں سے پُر ہمارے آج کے نظام میں بڑے پیمانے پر ایسی تبدیلیاں لانے کی فوری ضرورت ہے جن کا ہدف ملک کے پرانے سیاسی غاصبوں‘ فرسودہ سماجی اور سیاسی نظام اور اشرافیہ کے زیر اثر جمود سے نجات حاصل کرنا ہو۔ لیکن بدقسمتی سے ہوتا یہ ہے کہ جب ہمیں بڑے مسائل کا سامنا ہوتا ہے تو ہم اپنی تباہی کے ذمہ دار حقیقی معاملات کو یہ سوچ کر نظرانداز کر دیتے ہیں کہ ہم ان کی بہتری کے لیے کچھ نہیں کر سکتے۔ ہم زندگی گزارتے چلے جاتے ہیں اور بسا اوقات ہم ان لوگوں کا مذاق بھی اڑاتے ہیں جو ان چیزوں کو درست کرنے کی ضرورت کے علمبردار ہوتے ہیں۔ 
    حقیقت یہ ہے کہ اکثر ترقی پذیر ممالک کی طرح ہم ابھی تک پارلیمانی نظام چلانے کے قابل نہیں ہوئے۔ خود برطانیہ کو موجودہ پارلیمانی نظام تک پہنچنے کے لیے صدیوں جدوجہد کرنا پڑی۔ ہمیں اس منزل تک پہنچنے کے لیے طویل اور دشوار سفر طے کرنا ہوگا۔ بانی پاکستان قائداعظم محمد علی جناح کو بھی پاکستان کے لیے عملی طور پر پارلیمانی نظام اپنانے میں تردّد تھا۔ اُن کے اپنے ہاتھ سے لکھا ہوا ایک نوٹ ریکارڈ کا حصہ ہے جس میں انہوں نے پاکستان کے لیے ''صدارتی نظام حکومت‘‘ کو ترجیح دی۔ مزاج کے اعتبار سے بھی ہمیں ''صدارتی‘‘ نظام ہی راس آتا ہے۔ اب وقت ہے کہ ہم وہ نظام ترک کردیں جس پر ہم عمل نہیں کر سکے اور بالغ رائے دہی کی بنیاد پر ایسا ''صدارتی نظام‘‘اختیار کریں جو پاکستان کی عین ضروریات کے مطابق وضع کیا گیا ہو۔
    ہمیں انتخابات کے لیے ''متناسب نمائندگی‘‘ کا نظام اپنانا چاہیے تاکہ سیاسی جماعتوں کو قومی اسمبلی میں حاصل کردہ ووٹوں کے تناسب سے حق نمائندگی مل سکے۔ اس سے منتخب اسمبلیوں میں معاشرے کے غیر جاگیردار‘غیر اشرافیہ اور تعلیم یافتہ متوسط طبقات پہنچ پائیں گے۔ ہمیں اپنے وفاقی نظام کو بھی معقول بنانا چاہیے۔ خاص طور پر موجودہ صوبائی ڈھانچے میں ایسی عملیت پسندانہ تبدیلیاں کی جانی چاہئیں جن کی مدد سے علاقائی عدم مساوات سے متعلق مسائل حل ہوسکیں۔ ہمارا موجودہ صوبائی انتظام ہمیشہ سے سیاسی عدم استحکام کا باعث بنا ہوا ہے اور اس سے ملک کی بقا تک کو خطرہ لاحق رہتا ہے۔
    اس سے نہ صرف ناقص حکمرانی اور کرپشن بڑھ رہی ہے بلکہ ملک کے مختلف حصوں میں امتیازی سلوک اور محرومی کے جذبات کو بھی ہوا مل رہی ہے۔ پاکستان میں بیس سے زیادہ زبانیں اور تین سو کے قریب بولیاں بولی جاتی ہیں۔ اس تنوع نے علاقائی کشیدگی اور صوبوں کے مابین کھچائو میں اضافہ کیا‘ جس سے نہ صرف آئین سازی میں رکاوٹیں آئیں بلکہ وفاقی اقتدار کو بھی خطرات لاحق رہے۔ کچھ عرصے سے نسلی اور لسانی بنیاد پر مزید صوبے تشکیل دینے کے مطالبات زور پکڑ رہے ہیں۔ اگر یہ رجحان جاری رہا تو ہمارے پاس فیڈریشن کا ایک کمزور ڈھانچہ رہ جائے گا جو ذاتی مفادات کے اسیر کرپٹ سیاستدانوں کے رحم و کرم پر ہو گا۔
    بڑے سائز کے غیر مساوی صوبے ہمیشہ علیحدگی کی سوچ پیدا کرنے کا باعث بنتے ہیں‘ ان کے مقابلے میں چھوٹے صوبوں میں یہ رجحانات نہیں پائے جاتے۔ 1960کی دہائی میں نائیجیریا کو 'بیافرا‘ کے علاقے میں مذہب کی بنیاد پر علیحدگی کی تحریک کا سامنا کرنا پڑا‘ اس مسئلے کو بالآخر چھوٹے صوبے بنا کر حل کیا گیا۔ آج کی دُنیا میں اکثر بڑے اور متوسط سائز کے ممالک کو چھوٹے انتظامی یونٹوں میں تقسیم کر دیا گیا ہے۔
    اگر دوسرے ترقی یافتہ اور ترقی پذیر ممالک سے تقابل کیا جائے تو ہم اپنے آپ کو ایک منفرد فیڈریشن کی صورت میں پاتے ہیںجس کی پوری دُنیا میں کسی بھی جگہ کوئی دوسری مثال نہیں ملتی۔ رقبے اور آبادی کے لحاظ سے کم و بیش پاکستان کے برابر کسی بھی ملک میں اتنے بڑے صوبے نہیں ہیں اور عام شہری کی قیمت پر ذاتی مفاد کے لیے کام کرنے والے اتنے زیادہ ارکان اسمبلی‘ وزراء اور مشیربھی نہیں ہوتے۔
    کسی بھی غیر متوازن اور غیر مساوی نظام میں حکمرانی کا کوئی بھی طریقہ کامیاب نہیں ہوتا‘ مفلوج ہونا ایسے نظام کا مقدر ٹھہرتا ہے اور ہم تو اس کا مشاہدہ بھی کر چکے ہیں۔ ہمیں اپنے سیاسی ڈھانچے میں موجود نقائص دور کر لینے چاہئیں۔ وفاقی انتظام میں تبدیلیاں لانے کے علاوہ اپنے چار صوبوں کو انتظامی بنیادوں پر تیس یا اس سے بھی زیادہ صوبوں میں تقسیم کر دینا چاہیے اور ان پر نسلی یا تنگ نظری پر مبنی کوئی دوسرا لیبل چسپاں کیے بغیر ان کے تاریخی امتیاز کو برقرار رکھنا چاہیے۔ یہ بھی ہو سکتا ہے کہ نئے یونٹوں کی ازسر نو حد بندی کرنے اور چھوٹی بڑی نہروں کو تقسیم کرنے کے بجائے موجودہ کمشنریوں کو نئے صوبوں کا درجہ دے دیا جائے۔
    صوبوں کی اسمبلیاں ‘وزرائے اعلیٰ‘ وزیر‘ کابینائیں‘ اور سیکرٹریٹ وغیرہ نہیں ہونے چاہئیں۔ ہمارے سیاسی نظام سے ان چیزوں کو خارج کر کے دولت کے لالچ اور ہوس اقتدار پر مبنی غلیظ سیاست سے چھٹکارا مل جائے گا اور بڑی مقدار میں فنڈز کی بھی بچت ہو گی جو لوگوں کی فلاح و بہبود پر خرچ ہوں گے۔ اضلاع کو حکومت کا بنیادی یونٹ ہونا چاہیے اور اس کا سربراہ مقررہ معیار پر پورا اترنے والا ایک منتخب شخص کو ہونا چاہیے۔
    (شمشاد احمد : کالم نگار سابق سیکرٹری خارجہ ہیں) 
    Free-eBooks: http://goo.gl/2xpiv
    Peace-Forum Video Channel: http://goo.gl/GLh75

    Labels: , , , ,

    Goodbye Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry



    ،ظلم غربت، کرپشن اور دہشت گردی کی ماری قوم کے لیے افتخار چودھری کی موجودگی صحرا میں بھٹکے مسافر کے لیے نخلستان کی ما نند تھی. نا ایل اور کرپٹ حکمرانوں اور برو کریٹ کی کرپتیوں اور نہ اہلی کے اگے ایک دیوار کم از کم ڈر تھا . میڈیا اور عوام اکثر میگا سکینڈلز معلوم کر کے خوش ہو جاتے .

    کیوں کہ عوام نے ان کے بحالی میں حصہ لیا تھا لہٰذا توقعات بھی زیادہ تھیں کافی حد تک افتخار چودھری نے ان کو خوش کیا . مگر کیا جو کچھ انھوں نے کیا یہ کافی تھا ؟ یا وہ کچھ مزید کام کر سکتے تھے جن کے مثبت اثرات نہ صرف دیر تک رہتے بلکہ پاکستان کی سمت ہی بدل دیتے .تمام تنقید اور تعریف ایک طرف یہاں  صرف اہم معاملات پر فوکس focus کر تے ہیں:

    آیے جذبات محبت خلوص کے دائروں سے باھر نکال کر جائزہ لیں :

    اگر ایک diabetic شوگر کا مریض ڈاکٹر کے پاس جایے اور اس کو بتا ے کہ اس کی نظر کمزور ہو رھی ہے ، تا نگوں میں درد ہے ، پاؤں میں زخم ٹھیک نہیں ہوتا  گردے kidney میں تکللیف ہے . ڈاکٹر اس کی آنکھوں کا علاج کرتا ہے ، درد کی دو ا pain killer  دیتا ہے . گردوں کی دو دیتا ہے  مریض کو فرق پڑتا ہے . آنکھ بہتر ہوتی ہے ، درد کم ہو جاتا ہے . کیا آپ کہیں گے ڈاکٹر نے اچھا علاج کیا ؟ مریض بہتر محسوس کر رہا ہے .

    آج کل انفارمیشن کا دور ہے عام لوگ بھی جانتے ہیں کہ ان  ساری بیماریوں کی جڑ شوگر diabetes ہے جس کا علاج کرنا ڈاکٹر صاحب بھول گئے . کچھ عرصے بعد مریض شوگر کی وجہ سے موت کے قریب ہو گا .

    پاکستان کا سب سے برا مسلہ لیڈرشپ ، اچھی قیادت کا ہے جس کے لیے جمهوری طریقہ آیین کے مطابق صاف شفاف الیکشن کا انقعاد ہے . قدرت 
    نے افتخار چودھری صاحب کے دور مین موقع دیا . اگرچہ الیکشن کمیشن کا کام ہے مگر عدلیہ نے جوڈیشل آفیسرز مھیا کیے . اکثر طاقت ور  ڈھانچہ عدلیہ سے  تھا . دھ ندلی کی اپیل بھی عدلیہ کے پاس .ویسے بھی چیف صاحب سو موٹو کے زریعے کسی معاملے کو دیکھ سکتی ہے .
    الیکشن سے پہلے مراحل میں سیکشن ٦٢، ٦٣ کا مزاق بنایا گیا . ...... لوگوں کا جمہوریت سے اعتماد اٹھ گیا . چیف صاحب اگر درست الیکشن آہیں کے مطابق کروا دیتے کچھ نیی قیادت اتی نتائج سب کو قبول ہوتے چاہے نمبر میں تھوڑا فرق ہوتا . پاکستان ایک نے جمہوری سفر پر روانہ ہوتا . مگر افسوس چیف صاحب نے یہ موقع کھو دیا . ہم ووھین کھڑے ہیں جہاں پہلے تھے ...

    کسی ادارے کی اصلاح اور ترقی میں سربراہ کا بڑا کردار ہوتا ہے . ہما ری نچلے لیول کی عدلیہ سے عوام کا براہ راست واسطہ پڑتا ہے . اس وقت بھی تقریباً تیس لاکھ مقدمات لوئر کورٹس میں زیر التوا ہیں . اس پر کوئی پیش رفت نہ ہو سکی .

    دوسروں پر تنقید کرنا انصاف کا مطالبہ کرنا آسان ہے . کسی کے کردار کا اصل امتحان اس وقت ہوتا ہے جب اس کی اپنی ذات یا اولاد انصاف کے کٹہرے میں کھڑی ہو. ہمارے سامنے حضرت عمر بن خطاب رضی الله کی مثال ان کے ملزم بیٹے کے مطعلق موجود ہے . ارسلان افتخار کے معاملے میں چیف صاحب کا جانبدارانہ رویہ ان سے اعلی کردار کی توقعات سے بہت نیچے ہے. جو ڈبل سٹینڈرڈ ظاہر کرتا. جب ان کے مخالف کہتے ہیں .. انصاف صرف دوسروں کے لیے تو ان کو غلط کہنا مشکل ہے . 
         
     ہم بھولے معصوم سادہ لوگ اس  شوگر  کے مریض کی طرح خو ش ہیں جس کی آنکھ عارضی طور پر بہتر ہوئی ، درد کم ہو گیا مگر اصل بیماری کا علاج نہ ہو سکا ...  کا ش ایسا نہ ہوتا ....
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`


    The moment of utter shame for CJ Chaudhry (and the entire court) was the Arsalan Iftikhar saga. Loud protestations of innocence did not prevent the court’s fall from grace in the pubic eye. If there was a time when CJ Chaudhry ought to have resigned to save his honour instead of showing up for work with the Holy Book in hand, it was when his son was caught red-handed. [BABAR  SATTAR]
    ------------------------------------------
    It is ungracious to take pot shots at someone walking into the sunset. But to refuse to take stock of the performance of a public office holder as remarkable as Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and draw lessons for the future is also undesirable.

    In measuring up Chaudhry’s tenure as chief justice there are five broad areas that invite comment: judicial independence; suo motu powers; judicial appointments; judicial reform; and Arsalan Iftikhar.

    CJ Chaudhry’s lasting contribution to Pakistan is that no one dare mistake the judiciary for being an extension of the executive anymore. Judges no longer fear falling out of favour with the ruler of the day and we are better off for it. CJ Chaudhry might be retiring and the pendulum of activism might swing back a notch causing desirable correction, but the Supreme Court will remain a powerhouse.

    It doesn’t matter that in fighting for the constitutional protection afforded to judges, CJ Chaudhry was in fact fighting for his job. Had he chosen to resign and go home on March 9, 2007, judicial independence would still be in its infancy. His decision to defy the might of the state wasn’t without grave personal consequences. His standing up created a window of opportunity that has strengthened the rule of law.

    There is no question that we need a strong independent judiciary to act as an effective check on abuse of power by the executive. What CJ Chaudhry’s reign has done is highlight that we also need an effective system of internal checks to ensure that the judiciary doesn’t commit the misdeeds it is meant to check in others.

    Freedom from external interference is one dimension of judicial independence. The other is the ability of the individual judge to discharge functions without interference from peers. This dimension, fettered historically by the misconceived notion of pater familias, has suffered further under CJ Chaudhry who ran a tight ship.

    In the initial run after restoration, judges shared the desire to stick together and fight their fights against the PCO judges and the NRO government. This is when we saw large benches and unanimous decisions. The bonhomie probably ended with the challenge to the 18th Amendment.

    As some judges refused to become party to striking down a constitutional amendment, the matter had to be sent back to parliament for reconsideration as a compromise.

    Internal differences grew with the Memogate controversy and the trigger-happy use of suo motu by CJ Chaudhry. And we saw in the last year excessive reliance on administrative powers to constitute smaller benches, pack off independent-minded judges to other cities along with inconsequential cases and reserve suo motus and other populist matters for Court One.

    Both in relation to suo motu and the authority to nominate judges we saw CJ Chaudhry monopolise the collective power of the Supreme Court and the Judicial Commission, respectively. First he managed to get himself granted the exclusive right to make judicial nominations. And then in exercise of judicial power the court diminished the parliamentary committee’s role in scrutinising judicial appointments. While the Supreme Court has rightly ruled that appointments and promotions within the executive must be the product of an open, rigorous and purposive process, if the same principles are applied to judicial appointments under CJ Chaudhry, many of the appointments might not pass muster.

    The use of suo motu by CJ Chaudhry has been problematic. Since its use rests on the will of one man, its exercise is random and inconsistent by design. For example, there is no way to understand suo motus over increase in sugar prices or recovery of two bottles of wine from someone’s luggage except as whimsical populism. Media’s role in suo motu incitement also cultivated its raunchy relationship with the CJ office that is not in accord with the judicial code of conduct.

    By laying down no clear judicial tests for ‘public importance’ and ‘fundamental rights’ for Article 184(3) purposes or clarifying the nature of relief the court ought to grant, suo motu has become a source of legal uncertainty. The manner of its use denied the accused the presumption of innocence, curbed the right to appeal, and raised doubts about the court ability to act as an impartial arbiter of the law.

    The use of suo motu might have cultivated in public mind the image of the chief justice as a saviour. But it has done so at the expense of our ordinary judicial system as everyone now wishes to be heard directly by our highest court. It is true that the need for suo motu arises due to a malfunctioning governance system. But it is equally the failure of ordinary judicial processes that create a need for fire brigade operations fulfilled in turn by Supreme Court’s suo motus.

    CJ Chaudhry’s biggest failing is that since June 2005 he has allowed a moribund court system to limp along under his watch. Instead of throwing his weight behind rebuilding and strengthening sustainable judicial processes, he relied on suo motus to create the perception of a functional judicial system, which is nothing more than a top heavy structure suspended in mid air with moth-eaten foundations incapable of serving the judicial needs of all aggrieved Pakistanis.

    The moment of utter shame for CJ Chaudhry (and the entire court) was the Arsalan Iftikhar saga. Loud protestations of innocence did not prevent the court’s fall from grace in the pubic eye. If there was a time when CJ Chaudhry ought to have resigned to save his honour instead of showing up for work with the Holy Book in hand, it was when his son was caught red-handed.

    CJ Chaudhry’s legacy is a mixed bag. He will be remembered as the politician judge who resurrected an independent judiciary, but driven by power, went too far pushing personal agendas and wading into the business of other vital state institutions. None of this should however prevent the Supreme Court Bar Association from preserving tradition and hosting a farewell dinner for the outgoing chief justice even if not for the man.
    BY; BABAR SATTAR
    The writer is a lawyer. sattar@post.harvard.edu   Twitter: @babar_sattar
    http://www.dawn.com/news/1061423/judging-chaudhry
    Videos: CJ Iftikhar Chaudhary
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Man without a legal legacy

    BEFORE Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry came along, the one resurrection known to mankind had been deemed a miracle. But Pakistan`s chief justice managed it twice in 2007 and then in 2009. And since his second coming, what a rollercoaster ride the inhabitants of the big white building on Constitution Avenue have been on. From the NRO to the prime minister`s appointments to missing people, nothing proved too small or too controversial.

     Some of it, it is alleged, was driven by the CJ`s love of publicity. It`s plausible on the first day of his restoration, he walked up the stairs to his office on the top floor of the building. The clever move pro-vided visuals to the 24/7 news channels as each one of them showed the climb. It was a moment that captured the CJ and his era.

     For individuals however larger than life they may be are a product of their times and the CJ is no different. He captured the imagination of a nation that was tiring of a dictator and learning to shape its destiny as the news camera stood witness.

     General (retd) Musharraf provided a focal point for those opposing him when he sacked the CJ. The political parties, the lawyers, the same middle class that Musharraf was said to have mid-wifed.

     And of course the television cameras turned this into the stuff of legends the 26-hour journey to Lahore from Islamabad, the May 2007 visit to Karachi and even the final Long March in 2009.The dictator slayer understood this. He returned after a revolution that had been televised and he ensured that the cameras didn`t stop rolling.

     He thundered against corruption, chastised bureaucrats and police officials, treating them with the contempt ordinary people wished they could exercise. He personified the aam aadmi when he reminded the politician that his job was to serve the people.

     A lawyer who does not want to be named says: `The CJ needs to be seen in his two roles his historic defiance to Musharraf, which no one can ever deny him, and then as an ordinary judge where he faulted again and again.

     His courtroom proceeded to provide fodder to the 24/7 ticker monster with a voracious appetite.

     In an age of experience where politicians were bound by economic constraints and could no longer promise roti, kapra aur makaan, the CJ became the mediaeval king whose darbar was open to all those who could send in a petition or get a journalist to report their story.

     At the same time, the traditional saviour of the people, the army, was also busy patching its uniform that had seen considerable wear and tear during the Musharraf era.

     Within this context, Chaudhry made all the right sounds, especially for the burgeoning middle class that wanted not just employment and food hand-outs from it selected representatives but also merit and honesty.

     He promised to check sugar prices, corruption, appointments made on the basis of nepotism and shady contracts that were finalised after alleged kickbacks. Cartel owners, investors and prime ministers were dragged to the courts.

     Bureaucrats were kept so busy that they complained they had little time left for their work.

     And most were treated with disdain. For instance, Adnan Khawaja, whom then prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani appointed as the head of OGDCL, was berated for his young age when he appeared in the court. Few managed to give as good as they got, such as former attorney general Irfan Qadir whose verbal sparring in Courtroom One was relished by many.

     The Swiss cases proved such an obsession that the Supreme Court sent home an elected prime minister despite warnings that it would derail a fledgling democracy.

     Perhaps, someone remembered that the middle classes in most developing countries have always prioritised honesty over democracy.

     Be as it may, this was not the only time Iftikhar Chaudhry`s court was accused of judicial over-reach. The International Commission of Jurists` latest report on the SC provides an excellent and comprehensive analysis of the court`s activities.

     Ahmer Bilal Soofi, who is a Supreme Court advocate as well as a former federal minister, advocated for strategic judicial restraint in the future, adding that `each time there is a violation of a rule or an audit objection, corruption cannot be assumed and a criminal case registered. The courts and NAB have to have proof of corruption before proceeding` He said the government, its bureaucrats and entrepreneurs should be given a chance to take quick decisions and turn the wheel of economy.

     His views were seconded by a former government official who said that the SC had hampered decision making in the executive.

     By this time, his earlier supporters had distanced themselves from him the gutsy lawyers who had led the initial onslaught against Musharraf in support of Chaudhry (Asma Jahangir,Aitzaz Ahsan and Ali Ahmed Kurd, to name a few); political parties such as the PPP and the ANP that shed blood for his restoration became his biggest critics and even within the bars there were whispers. And then came the harshest blow his son`s alleged corruption that left a dark stain on his reputation.

     It`s a stain that has not faded with time.

     But the final blow came just recently when protesting lawyers outside his Court House were attacked by the police. The incident brought home his isolation from his support base.

     But perhaps more importantly, Chaudhry`s justice was of the mediaeval variety akin to the caring rulers who roamed the streets to check on the welfare of their subjects. This individualised approach to justice remains just that popular folklore that does not impress thosewho record history.

     Sugar prices remained unchanged while the real estate juggernaut Bahria Town too ploughs ahead and McDonalds still continues to sell its burgers from the corner of the F-9 park in Islamabad; judgments cannot change market forces nor institutional working.

     As an observer pointed out, `he never strengthened the judicial system, especially its lower tiers`.

     The most famous political cases drag on unresolved soap operas in which the audiences have lost interest. The NRO implementation case; `Memogate`; Bahria Town`s land cases none has come to a clean end with a judgment that offers the flawed polity a new beginning or a new direction. The detailed judgment on the 18th amendment is also awaited.

     Even with the missing people`s case, where the CJ`sharshest detractors have praised him, the court has simply had the Angelina Jolie effect. The high-profile hearings have given it national prominence. But beyond that, the disappearances continue, the mutilated bodies are still dumped and the relatives` search has not ended. (A lawyer described the order passed on Tuesday as `an eyewash`.) In other words, at the end the CJ proved that while judges can aspire to be charismatic figures who speak `populese` instead of `legalese` governance tasks are best left to those who accept the responsibility and the authority to rule.

     His tenure reminds us that justice at the end of the day is not bigger than the system that ensures it. In most cases he had to turn to the very executive that he berated and held in contempt and asked it to investigate; establish factsor make laws. This is why perhaps all Chaudhry could do decisively was to overturn the NRO that Musharraf had bulldozed in his last days and which enjoyed little to no support. So when the court asked parliament to ratify it, everyone backed off and Chaudhry`s supporters chalked it down as a victory.

     That is all the revolutionary judge will leave behind when he exits the big white building on Dec 11. Even the television cameras, his steadfast allies, will remain behind. He will walk away, aware that Musharraf will define Chaudhry`s legacy as much as Chaudhry defines Musharraf`s. The legal aspect will always remain secondary.

     As journalist and analyst Nusrat Javed puts it: `The chief justice is leaving as a strong man without a legacy.

     The writer is Dawn`s Resident Editor, Islamabad
    http://epaper.dawn.com/DetailImage.php?StoryImage=11_12_2013_001_005
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      پاکستان کے حالات--- آپ
    http://pakistan-posts.blogspot.com/2013/11/pakistan-basic-issues-need-immediate.html


     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Related:
    Free-eBooks: http://goo.gl/2xpiv
    Peace-Forum Video Channel: http://goo.gl/GLh75

    Labels: , , , ,
    Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)