Adil Najam
The two videos attached below - one of a student speaking at a student convention presided over by Gen. Pervez Musharraf and the second of an MNA speaking in the National Assembly during the no-trust motion against Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz - have recently been floating around over email on Pakistani lists.
[Thanks to Eidee Man for alerting us to this new version of the first video which includes Gen. Musharraf's Response to the student's speech. Even if you have seen the student's speech already, the response is worth listening to.]
While the remarks from Muslim League (N) MNA Khawaja Asif is less surprising (especially since it came right after Nawab Akbar Bugti’s death and during a no-confidence motion) the speech from the student (Syed Adnan Kakakhel) is much more of a surprise. Gen. Musharraf listens intently, takes notes, and seems engaged. Indeed, as you can now see from his response (later in the video) the speech certainly got to Gen. Musharraf. He responds at length - including on the military rule and Balochistan issues.
I should also add that this event was organized by the government itself and also note that Adnan Kakakhel was awarded the second prize in the speech contest and also that this was telecast over Pakistan Television.
Whether you are a government opponent (i.e., this shows the depth of people’s frustration with the current order), a cynic (i.e., such talk is tolerated because everyone knows it will make no difference), or a government supporter (i.e., this proves that this government has given people real democracy and freedom of speech), you should celebrate these videos for what they are: a demonstration that political thought is alive and well in Pakistan (irrespective of whether you believe its content to be righteous or misguided).
Coming from the bol ke lab aazad hain tairay school of democracy, to me the space for dissent is itself important to the democratic polity; for that reason alone I beleive that these are important articulations.
Had seen the first one, but not Musharraf’s response. That was interesting. Am not convinced by his response but am impressed by the openness to engage in the discussion and to respond.
By the way, Mush’s response is also relevant to the second video which I had not seen and which is even more interesting because it is in parliament (but the speech is too much rhetoric)
Ok, now I seem to have lost total control over my acknowledgements ;-)
Yes, BD, you owe a special thanks because yours was one of the first emails I got on this. Thanks for that and apologies for forgetting it above.
Eidee Man, a double special thanks for alerting me to this google.video version that has Gen. Musharraf’s response. Listening to it now and have edited the above slightly because of it. So, thanks again.
My apologies to anyone I have forgotten to thank here ;-)
In other horribly embarrassing news for our country, it seems like Shoaib and Asif have failed a drug test and are on their way back from the Champions Trophy. Just when you thought they could not sink any lower.
Hey Adil, you need to say thanks to me too! x-(
Thanks Eidee Man. My bad. Yes, you did. Much appreciated.
Thanks also to readers Khalid, Samdani and Naveed for their emails about these videos.
Alright, read your post more carefully this time. The url for the full video including Musharraf’s response is:
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=55468072966 60038256&q=Musharraf
Hi Adil, where’s my thanks? I pointed you guys toward this thing today. :D
By the way, I found it interesting that when I searched for the first video on YouTube, I found two versions. The content of each is exactly the same, but the title of one is “Musharraf Grilled at Convention Center” and of the second is “Musharraf Thrilled by Student.” Choose your politics and take your pick :-)