Excellent news! The Emergency Times is reporting that all the GOR detainees -- that is, the people arrested outside Justice Shahid Siddiqui's house in G.O.R. (the Government Officers Residences locality in Lahore) -- have had the charges against them dropped and that they have been freed from jail.
Amanullah, Others Being Moved To House Arrest
Some good news: Amanullah and the others will be moved from jail to be placed under house arrest, apparently at Aman's house, some time tonight. I'll update this blog once I know more.
Update on Amanullah, Others
The Emergency Times is reporting that the people arrested outside Justice Siddiqui's house on Thursday have been charged under the Anti-Terrorism Act and, therefore, are not eligible for bail through the civil courts. The lawyers and fellow protestors are now on their way to the Anti-Terrorism Courts in an attempt to apply for bail there. Here's hoping that goes through.
Amanullah, Other Activists Arrested
As the protests against martial law continue across Pakistan, ten people were arrested outside Justice Shahid Siddiqui's house in Lahore on Thursday. These people, among many others, have been staging a peaceful sit-in outside Justice Siddiqui's house because he, along with the other judges who refused to sign the PCO, have been forcibly "retired" and asked to vacate their official residences. Many other people have been arrested, baton-charged, threatened, harassed, and released over the last few weeks, of course, but this group is of particular interest to me since, among the people arrested, are Amanullah Kariapper, a good friend and a classmate from LUMS, and Saima Khwaja, a LUMS faculty member.
You can follow the full story on the FASTRising and other blogs but, basically, they were charged -- without their lawyers being present with them in court, of course -- with disturbing the peace and have been remanded to two weeks in jail. They have since been removed from the jail and detained at a different location but they have been allowed to phone home and talk to their families. Their bail application hearing, meanwhile, is scheduled for this morning in the Lahore Cantonment civil courts before Magistrate Farhan Nabi. Protests for their release also continued over the weekend.
I've been out of touch recently -- I'd logged off from the wired world as I took a couple of days off after my exams -- but I'll keep updating this blog with, er, updates as I get them.
You can follow the full story on the FASTRising and other blogs but, basically, they were charged -- without their lawyers being present with them in court, of course -- with disturbing the peace and have been remanded to two weeks in jail. They have since been removed from the jail and detained at a different location but they have been allowed to phone home and talk to their families. Their bail application hearing, meanwhile, is scheduled for this morning in the Lahore Cantonment civil courts before Magistrate Farhan Nabi. Protests for their release also continued over the weekend.
I've been out of touch recently -- I'd logged off from the wired world as I took a couple of days off after my exams -- but I'll keep updating this blog with, er, updates as I get them.
Dammit...
Here I am, working in my Negotiations take-home exam when what I would really rather be doing is protesting alongside my friends, family, and fellow activists in Islamabad.
They protested, over a thousand-strong, at Aabpara Chowk yesterday. After the usual games with the police, things turned a little ugly when the police started targeting female protestors. The crowd retaliated and there was a scuffle but, fortunately, things didn't get very much out of hand. You can read about it in the eyewitness account on the Emergency Times blog. You can also find photos from the protest there.
Meanwhile, LUMS has been surrounded by police who have barricaded the front entrance and are checking everyone who goes in or out. All that in an attempt to keep students from attending the Student Action Committee protest meeting at the Press Club in Lahore.
And in the usual, funny twist of events that occurs in situations such as these, the police issued FIRs [1] against LUMS students and faculty members, most of which are quite funny (again) as reported by the Emergency Times.
And while all this is going on back home, I am here working out strategies for collaborative negotiation.
Dammit.
[1] FIR = First Investigation Report. Basically, the first step in a police investigation since this officially opens a police investigation.
They protested, over a thousand-strong, at Aabpara Chowk yesterday. After the usual games with the police, things turned a little ugly when the police started targeting female protestors. The crowd retaliated and there was a scuffle but, fortunately, things didn't get very much out of hand. You can read about it in the eyewitness account on the Emergency Times blog. You can also find photos from the protest there.
Meanwhile, LUMS has been surrounded by police who have barricaded the front entrance and are checking everyone who goes in or out. All that in an attempt to keep students from attending the Student Action Committee protest meeting at the Press Club in Lahore.
And in the usual, funny twist of events that occurs in situations such as these, the police issued FIRs [1] against LUMS students and faculty members, most of which are quite funny (again) as reported by the Emergency Times.
And while all this is going on back home, I am here working out strategies for collaborative negotiation.
Dammit.
[1] FIR = First Investigation Report. Basically, the first step in a police investigation since this officially opens a police investigation.
Blogs About Pakistan
With the situation in Pakistan being what it is, Pakistani blogs are becoming increasingly important both to people living in Pakistan and to those of us who are stuck outside. I've already written about a couple of these blogs. This here is a more comprehensive roundup of those two and some more useful blogs. Thanks in particular to Aman from bringing some of these to my notice.
First off we have four student blogs:
Then we have the two I talked about earlier:
And finally, we have the Metroblogging sites (the first two have more coverage than the third):
Oh, another useful thing to do is to create a Google Alert with the search phrase "Pakistan" that sends you a daily e-mail with all news, blog, web, and video entries posted about Pakistan over the previous 24 hours. You can, of course, narrow your search term down to "Pakistan emergency" or something.
UPDATE
A few more resources have come my way:
First off we have four student blogs:
- LUMS Blog: Written by LUMS alumni about things concerning Pakistan and LUMS. I haven't contributed to this blog yet but this is the one that I'm associated with.
- FAST Rising: The excellent FAST-NU resistance blog.
- The Emergency Times: An independent student initiative that provides updates on the emergency situation and publishes a newsletter by the same name.
- ALE Xpressed!: This is a personal blog that doesn't "report" on events but approaches them from a personal perspective.
Then we have the two I talked about earlier:
- All Things Pakistan (Pakistaniat.com): The intention of this blog is to "talk about [Pakistan's] problems constructively and to celebrate enthusiastically that which deserves to be celebrated". It's not a news blog, but an excellent views blog.
- Watan Dost: This is both a news and opinion blog but is particularly good for news about Pakistan from all perspectives and from many, many sources.
And finally, we have the Metroblogging sites (the first two have more coverage than the third):
Oh, another useful thing to do is to create a Google Alert with the search phrase "Pakistan" that sends you a daily e-mail with all news, blog, web, and video entries posted about Pakistan over the previous 24 hours. You can, of course, narrow your search term down to "Pakistan emergency" or something.
UPDATE
A few more resources have come my way:
Statement by Yale Law School
As statements go, the one made by Yale Law School regarding the rule of law in Pakistan (or lack thereof) kicks ass:
And boy is that "undersigned" list a long one!
[Via the LUMSBlog]
We, the undersigned lawyers, deans, professors, law students, and law school administration and staff denounce in the strongest terms General Pervez Musharraf's recent assault on the rule of law in Pakistan. By suspending the Constitution; dissolving the Supreme Court and the provincial High Courts and replacing them with judges of his own choosing; engaging in arbitrary and unprovoked arrests of thousands of opposition leaders, journalists, and other law-abiding citizens; and violently suppressing protests by hundreds of lawyers who were acting in the highest tradition of our profession, General Musharraf is trampling upon the very system of law that alone can justify a ruler’s power over his people. We stand in solidarity with our fellow lawyers and the democratic values that they represent, and we urge an early restoration of legality and legitimate authority in Pakistan.
And boy is that "undersigned" list a long one!
[Via the LUMSBlog]
Perspective on the Pakistan Situation
Dr. Muqtedar Khan posted a really good article on the Pakistan situation on altmuslim yesterday. He makes a number of interesting points and gives a good overview of what's going on. Especially this bit (which relates to my earlier post on the situation):
And he makes a good point that didn't occur to me:
Let's see how his conclusion pans out, though:
Here's hoping things work out sooner rather than later.
Even some of the secular elite who have supported Musharraf's undemocratic ways are becoming wary of his high-handedness. They appreciated his enlightened approach to Islam and saw him as a force that while subverting democracy minimally (only at the top, since the rest of Pakistan's governments, local and national, were elected), nurtured a degree of secularity and religious freedom necessary against the rising tide of Taliban-style Islamism. But what they have finally ended up with is more Islamic militancy with extremist violence, and less and less democracy.
And he makes a good point that didn't occur to me:
[Pakistan's] ability to retain liberal political institutions even under military dictatorship is an important characteristic that we must keep in mind as we watch the current spiraling sequence of political disasters in Pakistan.
Let's see how his conclusion pans out, though:
Washington cannot and will not abandon Musharraf. Indeed his move, which brings Pakistan closer to collapse, basically forces Washington to stand behind him more firmly, albeit unhappily. In the end, the current crisis can be diffused if an early rapprochement between Musharraf and the Pakistani Supreme Court can be arranged. It is here that Benazir Bhutto can play a role and reestablish herself as a major player both at home and in the eyes of the US.
Here's hoping things work out sooner rather than later.
Bush Gives Musharraf Tips on Eliminating Democracy
Andy Borowitz wrote a really funny "news report" for the Huffington Post yesterday. In it he says:
It's good to be able to laugh at a time like this. Actually, it's good to be able to laugh at any time.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Mr. Bush said that while he commended General Musharraf's impulse to eliminate democratic institutions, he felt that the military strongman was going about it the wrong way: "When you're getting rid of democracy, the last thing you want to do is tell people you're doing it."
Mr. Bush said that eliminating such things as privacy, freedom of speech and the constitution had to be done "very quietly and stealthy-like."
It's good to be able to laugh at a time like this. Actually, it's good to be able to laugh at any time.
LUMS Professors Arrested
Two faculty members from the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), from where I did my undergrad, were arrested as part of the government's crackdown on whoever "opposes" them. They were attending a meeting at the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) when the police came a-knockin' an' arrestin'.
Here's a PDF of the press release issued by LUMS (482kB PDF). The arrests are also the main story on the HRCP's website today.
Here's a PDF of the press release issued by LUMS (482kB PDF). The arrests are also the main story on the HRCP's website today.
It's Martial Law All Over Again
Actions speak louder than words. That's why, for the last few years, I've been giving the benefit of the doubt to Pervez Musharraf and his military government.
In Support of Musharraf
Thus far, many of Musharraf's actions have been nothing short of revolutionary (in a good way), at least in the Pakistani context. For example:
Of course that's not the whole story. Many of his other actions were suspect. He played both the political game (using one side against the other, building political coalitions when he needed to get stuff done, etc.) and the power game (i.e. trying to consolidate his) and otherwise did a number of things that helped make his rule as absolute as possible. All of which, while needed in order to carry out a successful radical change implementation, are otherwise signs of danger.
However, because he didn't rob us blind like our previous two glorious leaders did and he wasn't an extremist (on either side), his military rule was easier to swallow. And though his being a military man brought with it lots of conflict of interest issues, at least we knew that he was doing things for the good of the country. The military already gets about half of the nation's annual budget. Letting them have that (and a few other perks, should they want them...it's not like we had a choice) was a small price to pay for security, overall political stability, and the economic prosperity we so desperately needed at the time.
The additional problem that Pakistan had -- i.e. maybe doesn't have all that much of anymore -- is a lack of broad-based education, genuine political awareness, and citizen empowerment. All of which are basic prerequisites for a democratic system of government to function properly. Our region of the world also has a long history of being led by dictatorial rulers. In other words, we're used to being ruled by dictators and no one has educated us enough to be ruled otherwise. Musharraf's basic actions -- education, openness, empowerment -- made it appear as if, for the first time in decades, someone one was actually trying to break the cycle (as it had once been broken back when India and Pakistan got their independence). We knew his intentions weren't all that noble, but it was a good compromise.
The final action that made it seems as if all was good was the Supreme Court's reversal of the Chief Justice's dismissal. The way we saw it: the government misguidedly tried to remove its biggest obstacle to absolute power (i.e. a critical Chief Justice) but the rule of law won in the end. Ergo, we finally have a government that, despite all the things it's done wrong, concedes to the rule of law. That, by the way, is a novel concept for Pakistan. Our previous governments have fired Chief Justices, bribed judges, dissolved parliaments, and, in Zia-ul-Haq's case, created a parallel judiciary that supercedes the Supreme Court -- all in order to circumvent the rule of law. Though initially "misguided", Musharraf came out of that fiasco looking pretty good.
Words of Warning from the Wise
Running parallel to all this were the constant warnings by various people -- notably, experts in law, history, government, and politics, many of whom had lived through Pakistan's two previous episodes of martial law -- that a military dictatorship, while bringing short-term stability, ultimately tends to undermine the long-term viability of a truly democratic system of government. That, despite all their positive actions, when push comes to shove, military dictatorships tend to act in surprisingly consistent ways. That is, they do everything they can to retain their absolute power, even if they do think they're doing it for the "good of the people". Naively -- and, really, because we didn't have a choice at the time and we were satisficing -- we didn't listen to these people. Things seemed to be going well, we were making great strides towards the future, and life seemed to be getting rosier.
Things Fall Apart
The last few months in Pakistan has, in many ways, been a big "I told you so" from all these people. Everything they said would happen, has happened. And again, it's the actions that are speaking louder than the words. That is, while at one level, I understand the need for the current declaration of emergency, the government's actions aren't consistent with what it is saying.
We need the emergency declaration because, after a long period of relative peace, the internal security of our country has genuinely been threatened. For example, till earlier this year, we've never had suicide bombers in Pakistan. As far as we were concerned, suicide bombers were either a Japanese or a Middle Eastern concept. Suicide is, literally, one of the worst crimes a Muslim can commit. It's one of the very few crimes that, according to Islamic teachings, has no chance of redemption in the afterlife. Since the American invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, however, Pakistan has been inundated with Middle Eastern terrorists seeking refuge within our borders. And while they've been here, they've been spreading the good word. In that respect, then, the declaration of emergency was called for. Heck, last week a suicide bomber walked up to a security check post in Rawalpindi and blew himself up! When the heck has that ever happened in Pakistan before? A few months ago there was the whole Lal Masjid fiasco. And then there's the whole military operation in the northern areas that hasn't been going all that well. Yup, that spelled declaration of emergency.
However, if that was all that the declaration of emergency was addressing, things would be okay. Needless to say, there is more. The government has executed a number of actions that undermine its words:
And so its words ring hollow in our ears.
I have a theory, though. I think the government knew this was coming. I think the people in power let the violence escalate. I think they planned, well in advance, a lot of what is now being carried out. The minute they were forced to bow down to the rule of law (or maybe even before that), they starting formulating contingency plans. And this is one of them.
All I know is that I've finally taken off my rose coloured glasses. And things don't look so good no more.
Want to Know More?
Take a look at Adil Najam's posting on All Things Pakistan on the Chronology of a Political Meltdown. It helps put things into perspective. Also check out the Watan Dost blog. Both those blogs are worth following, by the way.
The media might be gagged over the airwaves in Pakistan, but the Internet is still free:
In Support of Musharraf
Thus far, many of Musharraf's actions have been nothing short of revolutionary (in a good way), at least in the Pakistani context. For example:
- The first thing he did when coming to power was, basically, declare that he alone didn't know how to fix the country. He then spent the next few years getting experts to work on the problem and, in the process, brought many of our valuable, brain-drained expatriates back in to Pakistan. That seems to have paid off. Things are going reasonably well for the country. Ultimately, though, it was his original act of humility that endeared him to most of us.
- He tried to fix local government. People may argue that he could have worked with the system we already had in place but, in my opinion at least, if you want real change (i.e. you really want people to get out of their entrenched way of thinking, acting, and living) you sometimes do have to nuke the existing system and start all over.
- He successfully weeded a great deal of corruption out of the system (specifically, the government system) and built a number of accountability measures into it as well.
- He fixed up the economy. Well, at least, improved it significantly (I don't know if anyone can ever "fix" an economy). Again, he did this by getting the right people for the job. Privatization (well, most of it) helped, of course.
- He tried to fix a lot of basic systems -- like education, transportation, utilities, and telecommunication -- that are crucial to a country's growth and prosperity.
- He empowered people to think and act for themselves. He got everyone involved in a frank and open discussion on how we should fix the country's problems. And he supported all this by, for the first time in decades, letting the media actually be free.
Of course that's not the whole story. Many of his other actions were suspect. He played both the political game (using one side against the other, building political coalitions when he needed to get stuff done, etc.) and the power game (i.e. trying to consolidate his) and otherwise did a number of things that helped make his rule as absolute as possible. All of which, while needed in order to carry out a successful radical change implementation, are otherwise signs of danger.
However, because he didn't rob us blind like our previous two glorious leaders did and he wasn't an extremist (on either side), his military rule was easier to swallow. And though his being a military man brought with it lots of conflict of interest issues, at least we knew that he was doing things for the good of the country. The military already gets about half of the nation's annual budget. Letting them have that (and a few other perks, should they want them...it's not like we had a choice) was a small price to pay for security, overall political stability, and the economic prosperity we so desperately needed at the time.
The additional problem that Pakistan had -- i.e. maybe doesn't have all that much of anymore -- is a lack of broad-based education, genuine political awareness, and citizen empowerment. All of which are basic prerequisites for a democratic system of government to function properly. Our region of the world also has a long history of being led by dictatorial rulers. In other words, we're used to being ruled by dictators and no one has educated us enough to be ruled otherwise. Musharraf's basic actions -- education, openness, empowerment -- made it appear as if, for the first time in decades, someone one was actually trying to break the cycle (as it had once been broken back when India and Pakistan got their independence). We knew his intentions weren't all that noble, but it was a good compromise.
The final action that made it seems as if all was good was the Supreme Court's reversal of the Chief Justice's dismissal. The way we saw it: the government misguidedly tried to remove its biggest obstacle to absolute power (i.e. a critical Chief Justice) but the rule of law won in the end. Ergo, we finally have a government that, despite all the things it's done wrong, concedes to the rule of law. That, by the way, is a novel concept for Pakistan. Our previous governments have fired Chief Justices, bribed judges, dissolved parliaments, and, in Zia-ul-Haq's case, created a parallel judiciary that supercedes the Supreme Court -- all in order to circumvent the rule of law. Though initially "misguided", Musharraf came out of that fiasco looking pretty good.
Words of Warning from the Wise
Running parallel to all this were the constant warnings by various people -- notably, experts in law, history, government, and politics, many of whom had lived through Pakistan's two previous episodes of martial law -- that a military dictatorship, while bringing short-term stability, ultimately tends to undermine the long-term viability of a truly democratic system of government. That, despite all their positive actions, when push comes to shove, military dictatorships tend to act in surprisingly consistent ways. That is, they do everything they can to retain their absolute power, even if they do think they're doing it for the "good of the people". Naively -- and, really, because we didn't have a choice at the time and we were satisficing -- we didn't listen to these people. Things seemed to be going well, we were making great strides towards the future, and life seemed to be getting rosier.
Things Fall Apart
The last few months in Pakistan has, in many ways, been a big "I told you so" from all these people. Everything they said would happen, has happened. And again, it's the actions that are speaking louder than the words. That is, while at one level, I understand the need for the current declaration of emergency, the government's actions aren't consistent with what it is saying.
We need the emergency declaration because, after a long period of relative peace, the internal security of our country has genuinely been threatened. For example, till earlier this year, we've never had suicide bombers in Pakistan. As far as we were concerned, suicide bombers were either a Japanese or a Middle Eastern concept. Suicide is, literally, one of the worst crimes a Muslim can commit. It's one of the very few crimes that, according to Islamic teachings, has no chance of redemption in the afterlife. Since the American invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, however, Pakistan has been inundated with Middle Eastern terrorists seeking refuge within our borders. And while they've been here, they've been spreading the good word. In that respect, then, the declaration of emergency was called for. Heck, last week a suicide bomber walked up to a security check post in Rawalpindi and blew himself up! When the heck has that ever happened in Pakistan before? A few months ago there was the whole Lal Masjid fiasco. And then there's the whole military operation in the northern areas that hasn't been going all that well. Yup, that spelled declaration of emergency.
However, if that was all that the declaration of emergency was addressing, things would be okay. Needless to say, there is more. The government has executed a number of actions that undermine its words:
- It's arrested the heads of all opposition political parties as well as the heads of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (think: Burma, but on a smaller scale).
- It's dismissed seven (out of seventeen) Supreme Court judges -- including the Chief Justice -- because they refused to take oath under the Provincial Constitutional Order (PCO) that declared the state of emergency.
- It's gagged the media, shutting down all but the government run television and radio stations. I'm not sure what it's done with the print newspapers. Their Internet sites are up and running, though (see links at the end of the post).
- It brutally suppressed demonstrations against the PCO in Karachi and Lahore.
And so its words ring hollow in our ears.
I have a theory, though. I think the government knew this was coming. I think the people in power let the violence escalate. I think they planned, well in advance, a lot of what is now being carried out. The minute they were forced to bow down to the rule of law (or maybe even before that), they starting formulating contingency plans. And this is one of them.
All I know is that I've finally taken off my rose coloured glasses. And things don't look so good no more.
Want to Know More?
Take a look at Adil Najam's posting on All Things Pakistan on the Chronology of a Political Meltdown. It helps put things into perspective. Also check out the Watan Dost blog. Both those blogs are worth following, by the way.
The media might be gagged over the airwaves in Pakistan, but the Internet is still free:
Life in Lahore
In a comment to my post about monsoons in South Asia, Aman pointed me to Umer Farooq's two-part article on Lahore that also talks about what happens when it rains there (and does a much better job that I ever could). You can find that on the Read It Live website: Lahore, Lahore - Part II. If you've ever lived in Lahore for a decent amount of time (or simply know people from Lahore), this ought to strike a chord. Or at least resonate a bit.
I Miss the Monsoon
Since yesterday, Victoria (the province that Melbourne is in) has been buffeted by strong winds -- sometimes reaching gale force in localized areas. There hasn't been much damage, though the Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for "Localised Damaging Winds".
I walked home through that weather last night and, when I was about four streets away, it started raining. The rain itself wasn't hard but the wind was whipping it around quite a bit. Though I've been through heavier rains and thunderstorms in Melbourne, this was the first time I really felt the power of the elements -- which is a feeling that I really love. Of course, as Richard Adams says in his book 'Watership Down', the only reason we can say that is because we know we can protect ourselves from those very elements. If we couldn't, we probably wouldn't love, say, winter all that much (which, by the way, is my favourite season).
Anyway, as I hurried down the street while being pelted by rain, I realized just how much I miss the South Asian monsoons. I've been in Australia for the last two monsoon seasons -- which, in Pakistan, runs from end June to September -- and there's nothing quite like that on this continent. And though the weather here is sometimes more extreme, I do miss those rains (the thunder, those heavy showers) very much. It's not just the rains, though. It's the sights, the sounds, the smells, and ultimately, what the coming of the monsoon means for that part of the world. The monsoon heralds the coming of a new season, a new beginning, a new lease of life for that land...something that washes away the previous year and brings in the next. [I'm not going to try to be poetic about this. Many others have done a much better job that I can ever do!]
I think it was the smell of fresh rain on the ground that triggered my memories. That and the fact that I wasn't getting drenched like I would have been, had this been a monsoon rain. I wonder when I'll get to experience that next. Probably not next year. The year after that, maybe? Only if I'm lucky. Oh well.
I walked home through that weather last night and, when I was about four streets away, it started raining. The rain itself wasn't hard but the wind was whipping it around quite a bit. Though I've been through heavier rains and thunderstorms in Melbourne, this was the first time I really felt the power of the elements -- which is a feeling that I really love. Of course, as Richard Adams says in his book 'Watership Down', the only reason we can say that is because we know we can protect ourselves from those very elements. If we couldn't, we probably wouldn't love, say, winter all that much (which, by the way, is my favourite season).
Anyway, as I hurried down the street while being pelted by rain, I realized just how much I miss the South Asian monsoons. I've been in Australia for the last two monsoon seasons -- which, in Pakistan, runs from end June to September -- and there's nothing quite like that on this continent. And though the weather here is sometimes more extreme, I do miss those rains (the thunder, those heavy showers) very much. It's not just the rains, though. It's the sights, the sounds, the smells, and ultimately, what the coming of the monsoon means for that part of the world. The monsoon heralds the coming of a new season, a new beginning, a new lease of life for that land...something that washes away the previous year and brings in the next. [I'm not going to try to be poetic about this. Many others have done a much better job that I can ever do!]
I think it was the smell of fresh rain on the ground that triggered my memories. That and the fact that I wasn't getting drenched like I would have been, had this been a monsoon rain. I wonder when I'll get to experience that next. Probably not next year. The year after that, maybe? Only if I'm lucky. Oh well.