Credits for photos belong to Pervaiz Munir Alvi saheb. He took the photos on his recent trip to Pakistan and graciously shared them with me. The location is the Grand Trunk (now called highway N5) in Punjab.
While we have discussed Declaration of Emergency, Chronology of a Meltdown, mis-treatment of Imran Khan in recent past, one topic that got missed is what’s Benazir Bhutto up to these days? We would like to hear from our readers. Today, on my drive back from office, I was listening to Imran Khan‘s interview on National Public Radio (NPR). On a question of joining forces with Benazir, Imran Khan replied:
“We would love to join Benazir, except we don’t know whose side she is on today….There is a big mistrust of each other among opposition parties these days”.
I agree. What do you think? Above photos are in no way ATP’s endorsement to Benazir. They simply reflect a glimpse of our society. In addition to that, I personally enjoyed reading the slogan: “faisla zameer da….”
A.R.Shahid,
As much as I think that PML (a-z) is a party of the Establishment I give credit to Nawaz Sharif (and especially to Javed Hashmi) for asserting the supremacy of civilians. Let the people decide! If they choose PML-N in a free and fair elections and if NS does not repeat his mistake (his 2nd term as PM) of not representing smaller provinces enough in his govt. then he will be my leader.
Meengla:
I differ on one point though. Surely PPPP is probably the most popular party in the country, but PML can’t just be under-estimated. Both NS and PML(Q) candidates have big pockets of support all over Pakistan. The only thing that plagues PML is its division.
I am fully aware of the implications of the ‘counter theft’ argument and I know it will sound like a ‘stretch’. Yes, there is theft from personal greed. And yet the stolen money is being channeled back to the country (though in much smaller amounts) to organize events (like the huge sum spent on Oct. 18 2007). The moneys acquired by anti-PPP forces since 1977 has greatly damaged PPP and cannot be countered by doing ‘clean politics’ like that of Asghar Khan. As I said above it will sound ‘ugly’ and it is ugly. But that kind of ugliness is not limited to the PPP.
Be that as it may I’d like to point out that from Zia onward the military dictators have ensured that their actions get constitutional cover. And only a few days ago Gen. Musharraf introduced some Const. Amendments giving his actions indemnity? Who is going to try them?!
Anyway, either we start fresh or hold EVERYONE accountable. In that setup if BB rots in a jail for the rest of her life then….fine by me, really!
PS. A.R. Shahid: Yes, PML-A-to-Z better unite to face PPP. A lot is at stake for them.
Meengla:
Just to clarify, I was posting on BB because you guys were having a hot debate on her and secondly, rightly or wrongly, she draws strong passions from her supporters as well as opponents more than any other person in the country.
I agree that there should be no indemnity even for the 1977-88 period and what I said about BB in my above post should also apply to everyone else.
However, your argument that accountability should either start from 1977 or 2008 is rather misplaced. There is no need for insisting on such dates. If there is a case against anyone from any period, it should be dealt by courts on merit.
Your statement that Benazir’s corruption is counter-theft necessary for doing politics is a huge stretch so I will just let it go.
There should be NAB but not hijacked by the retired military personnel to protect the Army Generals from being properly investigated against. Both the military and the judiciary should also be brought within the jurisdiction of NAB.
As for BB, I still agree with Meengla that BB is castigated disproportionately to her crimes while the others, specially the Generals, get scott free.
How much Musharaaf owns now and how much he owned when he joined the military? How much he has earned as a military officer? What are his assets since 1999? No body asks because our agencies are not interested in investigating a General, and that too a serving one. They are only after the politicians, specially BB.
Humayun Gauhar, who writes for The Nation and is a staunch supporter of Musharraf, is now saying that PML(Q) and PML(N) should be re-united just to keep the PPPP from stealing the show. What kind of silly logic is it? Humayun Gauhar represents what the military junta says, and thats how our military junta thinks like. Meengla is somewhat right, our establishment can’t bear Benazir though its still ready to join hands with NS.