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.
Hasnat sahib, baat tou aap nay sahi ki hai. But I wonder why you chose to ignore the question mark in the headline in your last line. Just to score a point?
@Yahya: We can publish a sequel to the book at great expense to national exchequer entitled “Friendly fire: Baluchistan, Bajaur etc.”. The Urdu version can be entitled “Sub say pehlay Pakistan. Hissa-e-Doem (Part II)” a slogan which has been successful in justifying all Mushi’s adventures.
there are clear news of US involvement, Shukat Sultan indirectly admitted involvement of US intelligence. Second news are about pilot-less planes.
Can Pakistan govt provide us[Pakistanis] evidences of armed training over there? I mean if they are true, can we all kind of emos,guns,missiles etc. the whole area is covered by military now. Can they show us? or they believe that we are like americans who believe in FOX news more than Bible?
@adilbhai: it would be good if you highlight sajjad’s english version on your main post under the heading of “UPDATE”. What do you say?
Dear moderator, could you please request people not to cut and paste the same comment in multiple places multiple times.
[quote comment="6508"]1. There is no excuse for killing more than 80 Pakistanis of the tribal areas. [/quote]
So now that it has happened, what should we do in your opinion?
1. There is no excuse for killing more than 80 Pakistanis of the tribal areas. The way the attack was conducted and the manner in which the government spokesmen justified it, raises lots of questions.
There is enough evidence by the foreign and Pakistani journalists that there were children at the premises and that the air attack was more than from the Pakistani air force. Another fact comes to light is that just after few days a peace treaty was going to be signed with the tribal elders, same as that of Waziristan. Whoever did that desire to sabotage the peace treaty as well as the unity of Pakistan. The main problem with Musharraf is that for him Pakistanis are of no consequence, as long as his prolonged military rule continues unchallenged, with of course the foreign approval – as he lacks domestic legitimacy.
The dictators of today are much cleverer than their predecessors as they have adjusted themselves to the new requirements. They allow a bit of free opinion (for the world community-thanks to the advancement of global communications) but when it comes to the “real stuff�, it’s only then we see their true colors.
The real crux of the matter is that one person is playing havoc with the civil, military and social institutions of Pakistan. His most serious crime in my opinion is that he is deliberately deforming the language, culture and heritage of Pakistan.
It is very unfortunate that we regard a few utterances by a student, as such a huge feat that it has to be described as “democracy at work�. Look, where have we stooped!
PatExpat, the matter is much serious. Do we want Pakistan to end up in a war with US? Much as Pakistanis don’t like what is happening in Afghanistan, they have no choice but to stay put. Press can say or not what they want but fact remains US is the stronger party here and dictates for most part what happens in this area, not to mention the rest of the world.