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Recently yet another senior al Qaeda leader spoke up on television and took responsibility for all crimes done. Yet if you take special pains to read any Western work on al Qaeda or Osama you will essentially notice a clear attempt at mystification. An organised group of devoted fundamentalists that is so accomplished in the knowledge of technical advancement that it can hoodwink perhaps the most skilled and well paid intelligence agencies. Yet existence and continued survival of such a force despite all odds defies logic. If al Qaeda is good at coded communication, does its skill surpass that of the US National Security Agency (NSA) which owing to its scope of activities and widespread suspicion is often called no such agency? Can you believe it? A ragtag group of fanatics with such overwhelming skill to match the prowess of the world’s most well equipped surveillance system. I do not doubt that a group of accomplished software engineers can wreak havoc but that is possible for a small group operating in a vacuum of power and attention, not the enemy number one of the world’s sole superpower. The NSA is indeed well-versed in code breaking and global surveillance operation. In presence of this and uncountable other agencies it is very difficult to misuse the internet and related technologies, especially because the net is essentially a Western invention.

I mean anyone who has the slightest experience of code breaking knows it is not child’s play. In contrast to this the NSA, perhaps the biggest US agency and most equipped too, has to its service the most stunning supercomputers you can imagine of. If al Qaeda were to communicate on the net through unbreakable codes that would take it even more powerful computers to do so. Ask yourself: can a group of sneaks accomplish that bit in the presence of the big brother watching? Again we should remember that there is a reason why there exists a digital divide with concentration of resources in the West preventing digital democracy. The US has never allowed the control or the surveillance of the net slip off its hands. Then why is it that al Qaeda’s audio-visual messages keep popping up on the net like rabbits in a hutch without giving away the location of their source? Folks, this is not fiction. It is pure fact. The internet as we know it today is an evolved form of the ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), which was employed by the US Department of Defence during the Cold War for fear of a debilitating attack. There can hardly ever be any potentially malicious activity on the net which can pass without the big brother’s nose twitching.

Likewise, there are other powerful surveillance means available to the US. There is the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) with its extensive network of digital surveillance around the world and then there is the newly reconstituted National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (formerly National Imagery and Mapping Agency or NIMA). Just google these organisations and see the extent of funds and resources available to them. If the American government cannot get only a couple of facts right about its enemies despite this much expenditure then with due respect these institutions should be scrapped and the work outsourced to better foreign agencies.

Those who think that suspecting some complacence by a segment of American political class and the bureaucracy is a conspiracy theory should try to see the inadequacy of their own argument. A group of extremists who does not have the IQ level to interpret the Holy Quran in a non-violent and moderate fashion can wreak this much havoc despite its serious lack of resources and yet the world’s most powerful agencies, in spite of all their resources, fail to stop it. That is quite an astonishing proposition.

Unfortunately, there has been quite a serious attempt to craft a convincing tale about Osama’s life for there is hardly any prima facie evidence to prove that he ever took an active part in the Afghan jihad as is often suggested. No matter how convincing, do you know what this is called in the world of espionage? Legend building. Yes, legend building is the process in which a spy is given multiple histories to use as a cover when facing a probe. A simple process of reverse engineering. This essentially works to further mystify rather than clarify the matter.

Another attempt to mystify the terror group is visible from the amount of noise added to the discussion. When you want to get rid of some serious allegation it is quite convenient to let this allegation spin a bit and get ridiculously fictionalised. Will it then not be easy for you to laugh your way out of these allegations? Hence, a lot of trash on Osama and the mysterious group he commands. For instance, it is said to be a Jewish conspiracy because 4,000 Jews who worked at the World Trade Centre were on leave on the day of the attack. First, it is incorrect to believe that as many Jews ever worked in the building and then of course there was no such noticeable or dramatic absence for we know several Jewish men and women also died in the attack. What actually happened was that at the time of the attack some 4,000 Israeli citizens lived in the entire area of Manhattan. When the attacks came there was utter pandemonium all around and no one had a clue. In this situation the Israeli Consulate issued a note to all Israelis in the area to contact the mission. This note was picked by an Arab channel and misconstrued as a proof of complacence. This trend of blaming everything on the Jews is again an anti-Semitic gift of the West. But that is not all. We have inherited some other foreign prejudices too. There is a trend in the half-educated circles of the country to blame Freemasonry for everything. Unfortunately, no one realises that these groups are so big in size that to blame them en masse is to undermine the very faith in human virtue. Such noises only further work to impeach the credibility of genuine dissent. I believe that there is need for the mainstreaming of genuine concern and further investigation and demystification of al Qaeda through perhaps reopening of the 9/11 Commission probe. Otherwise, the world will remain bitterly polarised.

Travelling in a tube, a train or an airplane how many times has it happened that some fellow traveller shocks you with his or her rash outburst or sudden movement? Does your pulse race? Do you feel nauseated by the possibility of a terror attack? You know many people do. This is the legacy of the age of terror. And yet it is clear that you must have quite often thought of the distant lands being rummaged and ravaged for the search of the terrorists. How many innocents die in the name of the war on terror? And yet the more successful we feel the less safe we are. Why is it so?
There are reasons why the so-called war on terror is more complicated and deeply psychological in nature than the Cold War. The USSR had a clear face and clear interests. That implied that there was clear limit deterioration of the situation. That is no more the case. The phantom of terror knows no bounds. It can make two countries fight battles that are not theirs. And the terrorists in the post-modern age care two hoots about any state. What to do then? And above all, why is the ongoing war on terror failing?
There are various reasons to explain away the failures. There must be some who think that the war is failing because it fails to address the actual seeds of discord like Palestine and Kashmir. There are others who think that the current discord and degeneracy is a gift of the economic realities of today. Poverty breeds intolerance and extremism. Yet there are others who think that the US double standards on democracy and human rights are the reasons behind this mess. Why is the US, which would have done every bit to remove a dictator from its own backyard, actively support Musharraf and the Saudi despots? And then of course there is this explanation of the cultural shock and deficit where people are really frightened of the change brought by Western modernity. Well, most of these are valid points and should be kept in mind. But these are long term issues. If you are looking for a short term contingent factor, here it is: today the war on terror is marred by distrust and blowbacks because the US and its allies’ forces failed to nab Osama bin Laden and his coterie in the rugged terrain of Tora Bora. This is quite a giveaway. In other words, the US still finds itself capable of invading sovereign states because it failed to stop the disease from spreading. When does such a thing happen usually? Usually when the doctor does not want the patient to be cured too soon. Naturally, in view of the long term personal gain. Ask yourself, had Osama and his benighted friends been caught or killed in Tora Bora would the US have the mandate to keep invading as many countries as possible? But I do not wish to implicate the peace loving citizens of America or even most of their lawmakers. No sir, I have complaints against only a few, mostly unelected wily politicians and bureaucrats whose only excuse to stay in power is in the burgeoning environment of hatred and intolerance.
Those who perpetrated the heinous crimes of 9/11 wanted to provoke the US into a silly reaction that would make it appear unfit to lead the world or else to get engaged in a war which would only benefit a few and not the state itself. I was going through George Tenet’s autobiography and something kept occurring to me repeatedly. The al Qaeda is almost an exclusive discovery of the CIA if not its invention. Yet the point that stood out among all others was that the realisation and the response to the challenge came almost before the challenge itself. And with an exception everything came after George Tenet’s rise to the leadership of the CIA. This is saying something, for the world’s premier intelligence agency was facing a serious crisis of identity by then. The sole purpose of the CIA’s creation was fight communism and after the demise of the USSR there was no justification for its existence. Miraculously then the man who took war to the US belonged to a family of very close financial allies to a former Director of Central Intelligence and then President George Bush senior. And then the most terrible of all attacks took place during the days of his son George W Bush and George Tenet. I know coincidences can happen anytime but given the CIA’s track record these are one too many. George Tenet we know had long term connection with the neo-cons through his good old friend Newt Gingrich who wanted the US to wage World War III. And through this assertion I do not mean to implicate the field operators of the pickle factory. For anyone who recognises bravery their role for their motherland has been only too heroic. However, you cannot overrule the chances of the involvement of the desk at Langley.
On the other hand, if we take the CIA’s claim of being taken by a surprise on face value then we have to look into another serious matter. The post-9/11 assault on Afghanistan was quite well-conceived and yet Osama managed to escape Tora Bora. That would imply that al Qaeda had a contingency plan and was informed in advance of such a situation. And that in turn opens the avenue for the presence of mole(s) at Langley. Has the US done everything to stop such leaks or is it that the charade of counter terrorism has taken the needs of counter intelligence? I believe it is the latter if not my first assumption. The US intelligence community is badly bruised and needs time to repair itself. And at the same time there is a need to revisit the very rationale of the CIA’s continued existence. The CIA assets the world over can be imbibed by a new outfit charged with defending the homeland rather than anything ambitious like defeating or reinventing foreign threats. Meanwhile, the US influentials need to trust Pakistan more on the matters of fighting terrorism for the country is deeply embroiled in a battle of reform and can work out that bit without foreign involvement, which would only complicate matters further. The only thing Pakistan needs today is the unwavering support for democracy and discipline among the officer cadre. Reform and not mere belligerence is the only way to fight terrorism and extremism.

Everyone is now talking about a US invasion of Pakistani tribal areas. Those who used to laugh at my assessment that this is has to happen in the end are now parrotting the given lines on the television. The defeatist elements have already started parrotting that the country cannot and has no chance of resisting the assault. In short we, including our army, should act as an impotent herd of sheep and allow the wolf to attack us one by one. Simultaneously there is verbal attack from the puppet president of Afghanisatan Hamid Karzai. First it was ISI which tried to take his life. Then it was the ISI that attacked the Indian mission. And now he talks of Pakistan dumping the nuclear waste in Afghanisatan. I mean can you believe it? As the relations between Iran and the US improve it is clear that we are being singled out at least for a surgical strike.
Why are we being pushed to the wall? No one has a clue but whatever the reasons behind it, it is clear that while Pakistani intelligence is failing to read the American mind, the US has moles at every level and hence knows that Islamabad and Rawalpindi lack the emotional energy to take big decisions. Our strategy is clearly influenced by their disinformation campaign. We then are any better than an impotent herd of sheep?
But this assault if it takes place should not be taken as a mere tactical attack to maim the alleged terrorists in our border areas. No sir, no such thing. It should be treated as the part of the proverbial Rice Bowl Stratagem which necessitates that you repeatedly attack a country at its borders so that it is demoralized and then take the heartland. In any event you cannot deny the possibility that the US forces accidently pick one or more of our unconventional installations as target. Hence folks this is a matter of our survival and if we do not take the necessary steps we are doomed.
But frankly what steps can we take to protect us from the US assault? It is clear that Pakistan does not have parity with the US and cannot match a serious attack. But that is a mere iota of the real issue. Repelling a US attack may not be as serious a matter as standing up and ridding ourselves of the foreign moles. I observe it with great regret that the foreign penetration into our intelligence community has reached an unprecedented level. First the intelligence leadership needs to close the leaks. How to do so? There is a term called Barium meals. In order to identify moles it is important to feed the intelligence circuit with credible Barium meals. If the information still successfully leaks to any of the foreign handlers you can chuck the mole out. This needs to be done now. Likewise there must be a reason why whenever there is a chance of Musharraf’s impeachment we witness the US ready to attack us. Musharraf may or may not be a mole but he is a compromised leader and has shown that he can be used by the foreign powers for a final strategic surrender. He needs to be removed immediately then. If the forces of Pakistan are serious in protecting the motherland they need to act now. Letting Musharraf survive as President even for twenty four hours can cost us dearly. However if he is gone successfully you may be surprised to see the results as there will be no assault on our soil. Yet leave him there and you mark my words you have lost everything already. And you don’t need a full fledged coup or a civil war to do this… if you know what I mean!

I am terribly bored. And this I say in spite of the fact that only a few days have passed since my own birthday, a newphew’s birthday and my father’s death anniversary. I say this despite the fact that the doctor has just informed us that we are expecting another baby. Again despite the news that Pakistan’s conditions are becoming quite adventurous. The project I work for nevertheless seems still to be eluding us. I am sitting in Multan and wondering when this sordid state of affairs will leave me. Under utilised my energies and capacities seem to be leaving me for good. Television is boring too. Let us wait and see when things change. 

 I have told you a hundred times that my father was an army officer. We were raised to stand up when the national anthem played, to salute the flag, feel proud of the army that we hardly ever knew. I think I have told you earlier that there was a time when I would have wanted nothing else than to become a fighter pilot and to perish like Rashid Minhas. My myopia blew up the chance and perhaps a bit of my zaniness. It has nevertheless been ingrained in me not to doubt the intention of the army. For dictatorial rules I have learnt to blame the ambition and vileness in men rather than any flaw in the institution. For the concept of Milbus I have again found it convenient to blame the depravity of the human lust and perhaps the law of necessity. Did the Ottoman Empire not implode because the military officers were not allowed to own property or permanent interests? Did something of the same of the same sort happen to the USSR? These excuses have kept me loving the army and perhaps even living.
Unlucky for us that we grew up during the days of Zia regime. My older brother and sister still think that we have been raised in a fashion that we can never like the true democratic forces. Throughout my life I have tried to prove them wrong. But to them I am the odd one out, the traditional weirdo who exists in every family. To me, however, Zia was nothing other than a murderer. He employed an entire state’s power to kill an elected prime minister. He should also be remembered as the butcher of the Palestinians in Jordan. But to me he was the odd one out. Such anomalies do occur everywhere. Pakistan Army was benign in its essentials even though its leaders had power to hijack it. I was still a believer and a vociferous one at that. Today when I search my soul I am still the same believer. I still have the firm faith that the creases in the force’s discipline can be undone with carefully reasoned ironing. I really wish that I am not hoping for too much. Continue Reading »

The role of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in the restoration of democracy throughout history has simply been heroic. It has sacrificed its leaders. It has often accepted humiliating terms in order to ensure transition to democracy and it has only too often forgiven its arch enemies. Yet there is no gainsaying that it has never emerged unharmed out of these episodes. There might be many in our learned class who care two hoots about the future of the PPP for now the establishment’s figurehead, an ex-army chief and reigning president of the country, has fashioned himself as the champion of liberal thought. But there are uncountable among us who seriously worry about Pakistan’s only democratic force. The PPP has shown more than once that it is the only serious force advocating unadulterated democracy.
While it is grossly unjust to misjudge a government’s performance based on mere three months especially when we apparently had no problem in tolerating a nine year dictatorial regime, but the government should also not misjudge or misconstrue the situation. We cannot deny that there is terrible agony in the air. The people of Pakistan are in pain and the popular anger wishes to find as many people to blame as is possible. Then the fact that the establishment of the country has never quite accepted the PPP as a positive reality of life does not help even a bit. Indeed even before the return of Mohtarma Bhutto to Pakistan a media spin had already started. Whenever she gave an interview in the Western press hinting an important policy stance, she was quoted out of context here. Yet when she arrived here, the grand reception she had really made the establishment go berserk. Her life was cut short and those who had always hated the house of Murtaza Bhutto all of a sudden became its well-wishers in the party succession issue. The purpose was clear. Whosoever has seen Ghinwa Bhutto behaving politically of late knows that her leadership could only promise the destruction of the PPP.
Then as Asif Zardari took over the party charge, another defamation campaign began against him. Only this time quite conscientious intellectuals and journalists were also sucked in the campaign. The reason was simple. When Benazir’s last government was dismissed in 1996, the general mood owing to the establishment’s machinations and the party’s own follies had become only too critical. Nobody knew then that the corruption cases against Zardari and other party influentials will remain in the courts for a decade and even then fail to as much as indict anyone. Some leading lights of the media did not mind narrating the establishment’s version in the press without any problem. All these folks now felt threatened when they realised that Zardari could become the next PM. All of a sudden Amin Fahim became a martyr in their eyes and they felt affection for Nawaz Sharif too.
This betrayal of the intellectual class results in an unmitigated disaster. The new kingmaker was made so much insecure from the very start that his consultation process was reduced to a couple of unelected advisors. Since then while the PML-N has already vanquished the PPP in Punjab using the judicial and other crises as excuse, the PPP seems still struggling at the federal level. I say struggling because the party seems virtually clueless on the political matters. We have proven ourselves to be fickle minded already. It does not matter to us what your sacrifices are if you fail to ameliorate our lot quickly. We do not seem to care that it was during Nawaz Sharif’s rule when the Supreme Court of Pakistan was physically assaulted. We now consider him a champion of the judicial cause because he is paying the issue considerable lip service. He incidentally has become an advocate of media freedom also despite having broken all the hitherto records of media manhandling. In order to judge his pro-liberty credentials you should however wait for the day when he becomes the prime minister for you have already made him quite strong. Perhaps then you will know.
As for the PPP government I can only this: I know it is not incompetent. It actually has the best human resource available in my opinion. However to survive and make a difference in such testing times you need heroic will power. The PPP seems unwilling to work for the change which it had promised or was expected of bringing. As long as the presidency has Musharraf and the power to dissolve the Assembly the party rule will not be viewed benignly. As long as the judicial issue remains unsettled it will father further unrest. And in Pakistan it is very difficult for the people to digest the fact that the prime minister takes guidance from the party leadership for except for the case of the PML(Q) the party leaders have usually served as the premiers of the country too.
In my view the party cannot be blamed for the crises that the country is suffering. However as a voter, a taxpayer and a believer in the cause of the PPP it is my right to ask why is it allowing itself to be hurt so badly. Before the rule Zardari had repeatedly said that his party will not accept rule without real power. However, the party seems to have done just that. Today the democratic government seems only a sequel of the previous government. The cabinet seems to be signing on the dotted line and the prime minister only helpless. The arrogance of leaders like Rehman Malik and Farooq Naek’s continuous belief that popular perceptions can be hoodwinked do not improve the situation even a bit.
The federal government has now already presented and passed a budget that was actually tailored by the PML-N. The N-League has quite skilfully managed to shift this blame too on the federal government. We see action in Punjab and a confusing state of suspended animation elsewhere, particularly in Islamabad. Price hike and the unscheduled power outages have made life a living hell. It seems that either Islamabad will have to kill its own people or else the US will invade us. There is no coherent goal of governance in sight. If the people had given their mandate for the sake of roti, kapra aur makan and not justice then at least they should have been arranged for. But we are nowhere nearer even that target. And the fact that the public perception has worsened this much already will not let the old wounds heal. There is only one way in my view. A decisive course of action. The party chairman should drop those advisors who have become a liability, takeover the reigns of power directly and take decisive action to bring real change. If this cannot be done, and the party is ready to worry about its long term future then the prime minister should come on television, inform the people that the presidency and the establishment are not letting the new government work up to the people’s expectations and the democratic government has no option but to resign. This is the only way to win back support. Whatever deal was between the party, the establishment and the US administration is no more relevant owing to Benazir’s murder. The party is only too crucial for the future of the country to waste.

I know for a professional website it is not but for a humble blog of a Pakistani journalist this is not less. I am copying below some of recent stats produced by Webalizer software. Please note this count doesn’t include Pitafi Forums or My Review blog which are still trapped in their infacy. Thank you very much readers for your love and support.
Total Hits 2634201
Total Files 132872
Total Pages 2550627
Total Visits 187503
Total KBytes 17171987
Total Unique Sites 4229
Total Unique URLs 16910
Total Unique Referrers 1473
Total Unique User Agents 689
Avg
Max
Hits per Hour
3658
37981
Hits per Day
87806
553967
Files per Day
4429
9739
Pages per Day
85020
552201
Visits per Day
6250
44347
KBytes per Day
572400
2306733
Monthly Statistics for June 2008 (Pitafi.Com)

Things keep running in circles in the Islamic Republic. Actually the more they change the more they remain the same. And the irony of circumstances is not lost on us. The country has a new democratically elected Prime Minister. But the question arises is Mr Yousuf Raza Gilani really in charge? All the clues we have had point to a negative answer. Why is that exactly?
Well because the vestiges of the old order both inside the country and outside refuse to go. If you have noted initials of President Pervez Musharraf’s name are also PM. So he is the PM that sits in the Presidency. And the presidency continues to play a retrogressive role even today. People may ask how that is possible? The answer is because the People’s Party’s government at the center seems to be surviving today under a deal similar to the days when Benazir Bhutto had become Prime Minister after the demise of General Zia. You had rule but no real power. While in those days the establishment was only learning to play politics and hence had done hardly any proper homework this time it has.
Last time the dissent against the military rule was led by the People’s Party. The PPP it is an open secret has origins in Sindh and not in Punjab. Since our fat establishment is stuffed with the Punjabi class, it had never actually learned to trust a non-Punjabi group. The then ISI’s head Lt Gen (retd) Hamid Gul has repeatedly conceded this point in his concessions for which he should have faced court martial proceedings.
The result was that the Party while not getting the real charge (I am sure you remember who was the Foreign Minister then? Sahibzada Yaqub or some PPP office bearer?) it managed to stay in power for a while without actually losing touch with its popular base.
That luxury alas is not present for this regime. For one Benazir Bhutto is no more and the party has no bloodline factor visible right now. For two the establishment has played its cards well by stationing the PML-N just behind the PPP at such a safe distance that it can consolidate its hold on power at least in Punjab without having to face the embarrassing situation of the PPP. Just consider this. After having assaulted the previous government’s fiscal and monetary policies when Senator Ishaq Dar becomes the Finance Minister and visits the US his statements indicate that the same onerous financial measures will be maintained. Not only that. He tailors a budget keeping that value in mind and then using the excuse of the judicial crisis he manages to quit the ministry. In this way the PML-N with the close support of the establishment not only manages to set the direction but also to free itself of any responsibility for the tough measures. Do you not find any example in our history that resembles this case? Well in 1946 Liaquat Ali Khan was made the Finance Minister of the Undivided India. He with the help of the Quaid’s secretary presented a budget which really rocked the moorings of the Hindu middle class of the country. This is said to be an additional factor in the creation Pakistan. While in this case the purpose might not have been to further divide the country, it seriously delivers a blow to the People’s Party which already seems to be struggling for the political survival.
Unfortunately the PPP is still refusing to accept that it is losing support especially in the urban centers and particularly the Punjab. Today the Prime Minister is in Multan and I got the chance not only to submit my question but also to mutter personal comments while shaking hands. (To be continued)

Barrister Aitzaz Ahsen has been recognized by the Foreign Policy Journal as the world’s fifth best public intellectual. Here is the link: The World’s Top 20 Public Intellectuals. Read it yourself.
There has surely been criticism too especially because the journal claims that top ten of the world intellectuals are Muslims. Yet on my part I have never doubted Barrister Aitzaz’s intellectual stature. Congratulations sir! We all are proud of you, as a leader and as a personal friend.

Here is his introduction by the journal:
President of Pakistan’s Supreme Court Bar Association, Ahsan has been a vocal opponent of President Pervez Musharraf’s rule. When Musharraf dismissed the head of the Supreme Court in March 2007, it was Ahsan who led the legal challenge to reinstate the chief justice and rallied thousands of lawyers who took to the streets in protest. He was arrested several times during the period of emergency rule last year. Today, he is a senior member of the Pakistan Peoples Party, formerly led by Benazir Bhutto, and one of the country’s most recognizable politicians.

It so happens that I am totally fed up with De Bono’s six thinking hats. After all, you have to pay dearly if you wear a hat in the scorching heat of summers here. But my problem does not end here. I mean it is quite often that in any corporate office or wherever you work you are asked to change your thinking hat for the sake of lateral thinking. These hats or ‘head socks’ as I am obliged to call them are colour coded. White is for facts and figures, red is for intuition, opinion and emotions, yellow for appreciation, black for criticism, green for creativity and blue for the holistic picture. But a hat often ignored by our master of self-help is the one which bosses usually wear – the hat of arrogance. ‘I know better’ is the constant mantra in such situations. Having worked with some of the politest and most principled centred team players I have seen how often a boss has to remove this hat and listen to his subordinates to make things work. But that was one hat missed. There are others. One that we Pakistanis quite often wear on our heads like a permanently stuck wig is the hat of Moaning Myrtle. I am evidently referring to a character from JK Rowling’s magnum opus who having being killed a painful death and turned into a ghost always takes pleasure in wailing out loud and always being in a sombre mood.

There is no gainsaying that the times are tough. I know that the capital is on the flight, that the changes once promised are not coming by quickly, that the country has to sink even deeper to emerge out of this cesspool. And the fact that everyone from the Persians to the Yanks and Afghans many want Pakistan either colonised or fractured is not going to help either. But remember we are good at surviving if survival you can call it. If you take a peek into our history our very survival, very existence, this national life seem nothing short of a big adventure. But if life is an adventure death was an awfully big adventure for Peter Pan. If we do not fear death or national demise what is it that is bothering us?

I know that we are a vulnerable nation. We are fully aware what chance can do to us. It is not very farfetched to think that just anyone can move in a bid to colonise us. Within our frontiers we are bickering and fighting among ourselves and two seriously blood stained operations already seem never ending. Money is getting cheaper and the daily household stuff very expensive. If only I start narrating my own troubles with my own worldview I assure you, you will get a nervous stomach. But despite all this folks, I must remind you that we badly need some patience and empathy. Is it not enough that we all are alive? Alive in this extreme weather. Should we not be thankful that the younger ones among us are keen to make some difference?

Like we need strategies for life we need some graceful ways to accept loss, defeat and if the moment comes death. In this context graceful defiance is perhaps the only way left. I for one hence liked Sarmad Khurram when he refused to accept the prize and walk out on the US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne W. Patterson. I know many would like to see it as a harsh slap in the face. But I do not. This is the most civilised way of registering your displeasure. There is a reason why the dynamics of a walk out are different from a real slap. Some of our friends in order to enhance their stature in the Western eye forget about that. Still others of the overzealous stock misconstrue that such instead of walking out the young chap should have started a boxing match or worse refused to go back to Harvard.

When I make this subtle difference I am certainly referring to the recently held long march by the lawyers. I was in Multan when I saw the crowds coming together. It was not a pretty sight. The marchers were less in number when they left Multan. But as they marched to Islamabad and the number was snowballed another fear gripped me. What will happen if such numbers just paralyse the state’s functioning? Yet I need not have worried. The show was very well organised. When some benighted ones from among the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) and the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) tried to assault the parliament, the veterans from within the lawyers’ movement stepped out to control them. I was much impressed particularly by the conduct of Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, Justice (retired) Tariq Mehmood and the deposed Chief Justice.

It was clear from that day on that whatever the lawyers want they do not want anarchy. And that the Chief Justice is not keen to get politicised even though the problem of his restoration has become political in nature. Lawyers from the PTI and the JI were later to attack the integrity of Aitzaz Ahsan and Justice Mehmood. It was plain that they were intolerant of any semblance of moderation. The reasons are evident. Both these parties boycotted the elections and since they missed out in an otherwise windfall of representation they want to send the parliament packing so that they can garner further support. The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is already being subjected to a subtle character assassination and propaganda. Once the parliament is no more and the PML-N refuses to form another Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) the same machinations will be applied to it too.

If I am saddened it is not because of the troubles this poor nation is facing right now. It is purely because of the utter hypocritical nature of the opportunism of these folks. And above all what really breaks my heart is that liberal men like Imran Khan and Achakzai are also allowing the discredited zealots to use their names to sabotage a system which eventually would bring hope to them too. But despite that I have reasons to be in high spirits and live with optimism. Not all hope is lost. Where is my hat of hope, that you see often with a magician? Wait and see!