Adil Najam
The stream of disturbing images from Islamabad continues. It has left one dumbfounded. But one must never be silent in the face of injustice. Of the many disturbing reports and images that have been floating in, there is probably none more poignantly disturbing than this one from ARY:
Violence, of course, can only beget violence, and one saw this too in the manhandling of the State Minister for Information, Tariq Azeem. Yet more evidence that violence is replacing discourse as the mode of disagreement in Pakistani society.
This is not a question of which side you are on. Ultimately you have to be against violence. We have written about shameful violence and police brutality before – tearing down the shalwar of a young man in a ‘missing persons’ protest and then also against the lawyers during the CJ movement. But this is not just shameful; it is needless. Now there are also reports of muzzling the media; another tactic we have seen before. It demonstrates the government’s slipping grip on power, but it also demonstrates a society that is so torn that every issues – may it be religious, social or political – has to end in violence.
The government, after all, has already gotten the verdict it wanted. At least let the people vent out their anger. There is nothing to be gained from this violence. For a nation that has already lost so much, this is merely also losing whatever little dignity that might have remained. As I have written already in a comment elsewhere, history shall judge the merit of the decision that was given by the Supreme Court on the 28th of September, but the violence of the 29th of September was shameful and needless and will remain (yet another) blot of our national political psyche.
Dear Amir Ali,
Trust me i dont hate just Pak Army but all Army..they are trained for only one thing —to kill. Pak Army has another distinction it not only kills but robs also. ( A pity that PhD retired Professor does not have a house of his own and a retired Major has property worth millions) I think you are one of the lot who gets prejudiced for army after reading course books. I would advise you to read Military Inc. and some independent history on Performance of Pakistan Army esp in East Pakistan, Baluchistan etc. They have killed more pakistanis than they have killed indians. And where did they protect us. 1965? they started it knowing they are nto capable then we ended up in Tashqand. 1971? again my dear that is quite shameful what they did( Hamood ur rehman Commission report). Siachin? Well it was once with pakistan and no more with us :( Kargil? all shameful acts. This army is set to conquer its own land and its own people.
Ok let me remind you one very important thing. 1947 Jinnah asked General Gracey to enter Kashmir- he simply refused saying he needs orders from Field Marshal Aucklink ( sitting in calcutta). I think Gracy was better than all later generals atleast he accepted that he does nto report to pakistan but to some gora OUTSIDE Pakistan. PMA was set for Royal British Army and the training course was designed to make officers bow to GORAS and kill locals. Well Hats Off they are still doing the same . Well wake up man. U have been sedated. I was also – for a long time . As a kid I remember singing ” Har gharee tayyar kamran hain hum”. Truth was never told to us. Noor Jehan sang ” ae puttar hattan tay nahin wikday” its true… because in local shops they accept pakistani rupees and to buy them u need DOLLARS.
Why should the lawyers be immuned with all kinds of lathis
dunda’s existing system ? are they not Pakistanis ? they must taste what any normal citizen has to, everyday.
Its very strange what has happened to GEO tv. It has become totally subservient and is increasingly looking like a sister network of official PTV.
The other day when blood was spilled in Islamabad, only Aaj TV and ARY Oneworld were giving live coverage while GEO was showing pre-recorded irrelevant programs. Interestingly, the authorities allowed no other private channel to bring their OB van inside election commission except GEO. Seems like GEO has fallen in line with the usual pro-government line (whoever is in the government) which has been a trademark of Jang group.
There are still a number of cases in the courts. Wait, this drama is not over yet.
There is a very clear double standard that Mush supporters are practising. They term the lawyers protests as a mob but choose to forget that Mush also came to power through a similar method. You can’t have it both ways. Jahan faida ho vahan democracy aur rule of law ko bhool jain aur army kay truck lay keh government peh chur dorain aur phir us kay baad logon ko lecture dain keh vo qanoon ko haath main na lain.
Seedhi tarah kahain keh aap ko mush itna passand hai keh constitutionality aur legality aap kay liay secondary hain. You are entitled to your opinion on that, but if it’s ok for Mush and the other generals to take the law into their hands and remove a govt by force, then all other Pakistanis also have the right to attack the election commission and beat up govt ministers, especially when they were being thrashed by the police under a deliberate intimidation strategy by the government.