The News of a Kidnapping

I think you are funnier then i am and that is saying alot.

Najam sethi web site

http://www.ragistan.com/insaf.htm

There`s been news of ``security`` and ``defense`` vis-a-vis India surfacing in Pakistani newspapers lately. Seems as if Pakistan is provoking India at the Line of Control. Could this be a strategy by the Sharif governement to divert attenntion from its domestic mess? If a war with India does not happen soon, Sharif government is probably finished. A war with an old nemesis could be this government`s saving grace (or, maybe the last nail in its coffin). Is this strategy last cry for help by the Sharif government? One cannot rule out that possibility from a coward. Consequences are grave. But, on the other hand, does the Sharif governemnt really cares about Pakistan, its people, or its future?

``Ittefaqnama`` in the Friday Times was/is one of the finest avenues of caustic commentary on the
life of this Government in Pakistan. But what
got Najam in the soup was his precision of his
attack on the corruption of Nawaz and Saif in his Editorial.

Ras

Re Godot # 20

The nostalgia for the Raj not withstanding, the revision to another ``rule Britannia`` would not help the situation in Pakistan. In this case, the British would not be too eager to return, because what was once the brightest jewel in the British crown is no longer worth what it once was.

My father would say this over and over again, but I never believed him, but now, given what is happening in Pakistan, I know he was absolutely correct. He would say that soon Pakistan would be like Afghanistan; lawless, anarchic and rift with violence. That was over twenty years ago!

To which I will this post-script: Only way peace can be restored in Pakistan is one of the following happens:

1 - the Taliban Army invades Pakistan and imposes a strict Islamic law and denies Pakistanis all of their rights expect the right to breath, eat sleep and crap!

2 - the United Nations passes a security council resolution and military units from its member nations take up peacekeeping duties in Pakistan ala Somalia! They fed, shelter, clothe Pakistanis and through armed might prevent Pakistani politicans from fighting with each other.

O` how I miss the days of the Raj when cofronted with this impending nightmare!

Re: The Tangent

All this nostalgia about the British and their Raj makes me think that, hey, the subcontinent should ask the British to come back and take charge again! Maybe that`s the solution because India and Pakistan can`t seem to get it right. I`m not sure, though, that whether the British would be willing to come back! Maybe if they were offered some kickbacks...

Re: sigalph235

Agreed!

The unified Indian Army of pre-partition time was the best all volunter force of its time in the world. The Army of the Raj, it was commonly refered to, on its honor calls can list campaigns in Afhganistan, France, Iraq, Turkey, Middle East during the First World War and in the Second World War, it fought the Axis Powers in North Africa ( with the British 8th Army), and Italy (it was the IV Indian Division which assulted the heights on Monte Cassino and created the conditions, which allowed the Free Polish Division of General Anders to finally capture Monte Cassino and open the way for the Allied offense of American general Mark Clark`s V Army towards Rome, which fell on June 6, 1944 just as the Allies were launching their D-Day invasion of Normandy).

In fact, there is a grave stone in northern France, near the fields of Flanders, where the 16th Punjab Regiment served, which carries inscripition:

We do not know to which God this man prayed in his own land,

But we thank him for his service to our God in this land!

It was the esteem for the soldiers of the IV Indian Division, from Poonch, that prompted a host of Polish soldiers to come to Pakistan and serve in the Pakistani Army when it was suffering a shortage of officers in the years 1947-48. It was the tradition of professionalism of the Indian Army that the contingent of the Indian Medical Corps, which served with the United Nations` forces in Korea - 1950-53 so highly regarded.

It is the traditions of the Raj, which both Indian and Pakistani armies observe that allows them to work well together in United Nations peacekeeping operations from Congo to Cambodia to Haiti to Somalia to Slovenia (where Pakistanis staff and maintain the most modern and well equipped field hospital) to Somalia where the Indo-Pak UN forces coordinated and carried out the rescue operations from the American Rangers caught up in the fire-fight with Adeed`s militia forces - Pakistan provided armor and India provided helicopters for air recon).

The list is endless and ironically, the armies of India and Pakistan have a better working relationship than most of its politicans! No one wants to inform the people of India and Pakistan about this, because they might find out that they all share a common legacy!

Re: Feroz #13

To continue the tangent a bit further,Feroz, in your list of achievements, or `fineness`, as would have it, you forgot two significant recent accomplishments:

1. The Pakistani Army is the only army in the world that go out to read people`s electric meteres;

2. It is the only army in the world that go out and count number of people (like in census?) in the country;

3. The only army in the world to make, at least twice a week, pronouncements that the army can meet any threat from the enemy;

4. The only army that will go to a foreign country to do a dirty work that the subject country`s own army refuses to do ( as in `Black Sepetember` in Jordan). AAAh, brings in all that Zia nostalgia back!!!

Kant............

Re: AA, #14

Well!!! Call me a pig and paint me red!

Yes, we`re in agreement, ma`am.

Re: sigalph235

This `army` tangent is getting away from the main theme of the article and, I am guilty of prolonging it even further, however you mentioned the Israeli army that it is (rightly, I think) the best, and then you go on to nostalgia land and talk about the British Indian Army and its two daughters in their early days. You seem to imply that the decline came after 1965.

Well, after the Pak-Bharat jang a journalist asked the defense minister of Israel to comment on the performance of the Pakis and Hindis.

Moshe Dyan said, (the quote may not be verbatim) ``Two third rate armies fought each another and one of them proved to be fourth rate.``

...SR

godot:
Let me restate since I see you misunderstand some things I say. forget sethi. as a theoretical argument consider someone who comes to power in a calculated manner; he is inspired by power and holds an agenda that does not reflect the good or the will of the people; to come to power he exploits what affects people the most - (i.e. religion when he feels people`s sensibilities will be swayed such, food and jobs when that is what is imperative, and personal liberties when these are threatened and people are mobilizing around their sense of loss of these liberties-) people rally around him and he wins by popular consent. then, since his heart was truly never with the people, isn`t he likely to subvert the people`s interests to maintain authority?

If one`s love for the country and the people is such then whatever propels you to the forefront of leadership, you maintain your primary goals and stay subservient to the people, and for their every freedom, then personal glorification and ambition are irrelevant and up to the people. if people see their will being represented and not subverted to personal glory and ambition, then yes, any personal glory that comes out of it, and any ambition that is deeply quenched in any psycho-emotional way is FINE, is HUMAN, is what we mortals are made off!

godot, I think we agree with each other that with mandela, Muhammad, gandhi and others, personal glory came with their passion and commitment and was conveyed through people`s sentiment. and if ONLY a selfish, arrogant, narrow, and self-conscious personal ambition fueled these individuals, I doubt they could ever stay true to their cause. muhammad they say was moved by personal ambition, but also by the utter moral and other degradation of his people - the influence of monotheist religion`s success of the time - and a need to better his lot - I’m simplifying ofcourse. so if, as an example, he married khatija to elevate his personal status then yes, that’s legit.

Godot: you say, ``One should be able to separate good from bad! One can figure out a person by the company that person keeps, books he reads, and what he writes. Since I know Najam Sethi only from his writings, I am willing to bet on him, without questioning ``his personal ambition``.``

Yes, I agree. In fact design is always necessary. progressive elements in Pakistan should not fall into designless disarray, and wait for dumb father opportunity to knock on the door in ``Nawaz Sharif`s Pakistan``. therefore, arrests like that of sethi in Pakistan,(following said with reservation) an extremely repressive and patently offensive act of government has potential to mobilize people to thinking, yeah sh *t has really hit the fan. when zia promulgated hudood laws, my family didn`t even know what had happened; today sethi is a household name.

whatever I’ve read by najam sethi, I wouldn’t bet against you either.

Godot: you say::
``[L]eaderlessness``? You consider Nawaz Sharif and Benazir leaders? You`ve got to be joking, man!

by my non English word, I meant to point to the complete lack of leaders in contemporary Pakistan. Benazir and nawaz sharif and general zia have set the country back decades; have consistently acted to ensure their power, have exploited religion, have ridden the wagon of gender and done nothing for their gender(BB!), and subverted people`s rights while filling their personal coffers and shop in saks fifth and London’s elite store. why would you think I said or thought otherwise?

I agree with you man; I remain respectfully, a woman.

Re: Rishi # 10

Rishi, Pakistani Army is the finest army and a legend in its own mind! Afterall, it is the only army in the entire history of the world to have distinction of conquering Pakistan! Even the Indian Army can not boast of that feat!

As to the great deeds it has accomplished, allow to me list just a few. Most of its officer corps can speak and can write coherently. It has a great sense of color schemes in picking out bright colors for the ribbons on its medals. It can play the bagpipes quite well, but it is still working on its Urdu laced Scotish accents though. Its top leadership, when formally presented, could pass for as band masters in any major musical competition in the world. Also, following in the honored traditions of the Prussian military, Pakistani Army is one of a handful of armies in the world, which have their own nation-state. The list is endless just like Pakistani Army`s own insitutional failures, but I think, I will stop here!

Hope this helps. If you need further info on its accomplishments, please let me know!

Rishi ji, what an unreasonable question you ask.

How can you not beleive in the ``finestness`` of Pak fauj? Bery, bery bad !! You must recant or we`ll have to send the ISI over to get you.

Don`t you know, yeh vo fauj hae jo her chand saal baad poura mulk fathah kar lay-te hae (this is the army that conquers the whole country every few years)? How could an elightened fellow like you be so ill-informed? Show me another army in all of Asia that has a better score and has counquered a whole country THREE and a half times in only fifty years? You may have to go all the way to the banana lands of Latino Amreeka to find a better example.

...SR

Re: Rishi

Of course it is meant sarcastically. Having spent a lot of time in Pakistan and around Pakistanis, I have heard it zillions of times that the Pak Army is the best, manpowerwise, in the world. While conceiveably it could have been true in the first decade of Pakistan`s existence, I doubt it today. That is not to take away from the fact that Pakistan`s army contains some of the finest regimental traditions from the British Empire and its soldiers have proved their mettle in 1948 and 1965. Being a lecturer on international relations and politics myself, personally I think that the Israeli armed forces are the sharpest. Having said that, I am nostalgic enough to believe that the pre-partition Indian Army was matchless in the world. Germans, Japanese, Italians, and Turks well remember that.

But lets try to free Mr Sethi from the new Mughal emperors in Islamabad and Lahore.

Good news! The plans to sign a cooperation and trade agreement between Pakistan and the European Union has been called off due to EU concerns about human rights in the country. This was reported in today`s Dawn and this action was incidently hinted last month also, but the Pakistani government payed no attention to it. It makes one wonder just what the Pakistani Foreign Office`s Human Rights Desk is being paid for!

Pakistan risk serious isolation, because of its human rights record and unless the present government remedies its errant ways, there is a good possibility that the American congress and Clinton will delay another sanctions waiver, five months away, till Pakistan addresses this problem.

Re: Sigalph

or are you just being ironical/sarcastic

Rishi

Re: Sigalph

Just out of plain curiosity,,, why do you always label the pakistani army as ``the finest army`` in the world. Have they proved this worth through any deed. I scratch my brains and i cannot put forth one single action where they have proved those words.

Could you care to substantiate your words sir

Rishi

Re: Godot

What you suggest is very plausible. It may happen even if not by his own design. With all this international attention, he is truly bringing together progressive elements in Pakistani society to rally around freedoms. If he did it by design (which I serious doubt), I hope he didn`t because that may imply subverting people`s freedoms over his personal ambition..and our country will probably crack with the tension of leaderlessness.

On the other hand, as the article quotes a Lahori, Lahore would have been okay, but not Delhi. The deep seated fear, resentment, (de)masculation we feel wrt to our neighbor is as much part of our ``tehzeeb`` as Ashfaq Ahmed plays, so anyone who starts off with that will probably have a lot of knots to untie before he can win the people`s approval. But that hate as part of the national psyche is probably what Sethi is trying to question. I wish we could get beyond this reactionary mentality and really use our dormant brains.

Re: sigalph235

[``...The land which was once ruled by lionhearted men is today ruled by cowards...``]

I beg to differ, on the first count only, not the second. With the possible exception of the reign of Rangit Singh, when have we seen any `lionhearted men` ruling from Lahore? Never.

We Lahoris (yes, I`m from the same soil) are good at barrhaks (slogan mongering), but basically we are baqris (cowards). Through the centuries we would greet invaders from the west, offer them `doodh malai and ladoo` and put flower garlands around their necks. Then we`d line up along the GT road with banners in our hands pointing an arrow eastward with the caption : PANIPAT THIS WAY.

:)

...SR

I think there is something tragicomic about a nation who thinks that the underdog deserves being underdog.

Your article is fantastic in the truth it reveals.

I think it is because of our deeply inbuilt belief in fatalism, that makes the country so inhuman.

It shows how we think. We perceive strength and might as moral and right, merely because it is strength. Machoness is a value initself. Are we primitive? yes. Do we deserve this Govt.? Yes.

Re: SR

Thank you for your post which put a grain of much needed levity in the otherwise drab discourse. When I mentioned lionhearted men ruling ``this land`` I was actually refering to the entire landmass that became Pakistan as a whole rather than just the Punjab. Being not Punjabi myself I really cannot be microscopic but I do know and am related to plenty; they are indeed a great, funloving, and decent people. As for the lionhearted rulers, I meant people like Akbar, Sher Shah Suri, Ranjeet Singh, Liaquat Ali Khan, and H.S. Suhrawardy.

None of that takes away from the fact, as is well mentioned by you and others, that the treatment being meted out to the Sethis is cowardly. The world`s ``finest`` Army is being used to shake-up one journalist because his utterances have made Mian sahib uncomfortable. There is indeed a note of caution here. Militaries get big, bloated, corrupted, and WEAKENED in their actual profession when they are used internally. Any Latin American country is a prime example. Policymakers in Islamabad may well take heed.

Re: AA, #6

``I hope he didn`t because that may imply subverting people`s freedoms over his personal ambition..and our country will probably crack with the tension of leaderlessness.``

I strongly disagree with your ``imply his personal ambition`` and ``subverting people`s freedom``, not to mention ``leaderlessness``.

Why does one always need to question one`s love for his country and people as ``personal ambition``? If you really care about Pakistan and are willing to risk your life to do something about the pathetic state it`s in, should one be justified in saying that you are doing this because of your own personal glory and ambition? Did Nehru and Havel do what they did for their countries for personal ambition and glory? How about Nelson Mandela? To take it a step lot further, did Jesus and Mohammad do what they did for their own ``personal ambition``? On the other hand, Is Nawaz Sharif prime minister of Pakistan because he loves Pakistan? Was Benazir Bhutto? Is Asif Zardari a senator because he loves his constituency and wants to improve its lot? One should be able to separate good from bad! One can figure out a person by the company that person keeps, books he reads, and what he writes. Since I know Najam Sethi only from his writings, I am willing to bet on him, without questioning ``his personal ambition``.

And even if Najam did this by design, what other options you think a thinking and decent person has in Nawaz Sharif`s Pakistan? If anything, Najam seems to want to give Pakistanis the freedom they deserve, not subvert it.

``[L]eaderlessness``? You consider Nawaz Sharif and Benazir leaders? You`ve got to be joking, man!

It`s very plausible that Najam Sethi, being as intelligent as he is, planned it all, and the government, being as intelligent as it is, fell right into his hands. Najam Sethi now commands a deep sympathy by the country`s intelligentsia and is probably a household name in Pakistan, a prerequisite for a national leader, not to mention the all-critical international attention he`s getting.

Well, good for him, and for Pakistan. Whether this incident is by accident or by design, I hope Najam Sethi gets to run Pakistan. Pakistan needs leaders like him. Then, only time will tell if his deeds are as good as his marvelous writings. For now, it is my most sincere hope that he turns out to be another Vaclav Havel.

The author of the article proves a hypothesis well put by the late President Kennedy: freedom is indivisible; when one is enslaved, none is free. The abridgement of Mr Sethi`s liberties underlines the lack of freedom of the Lahoris to stand up for themselves and their own. Pakistan`s founding fathers, people like Mr Jinnah and Mr Liaquat Ali Khan, will be spinning in their graves knowing how much Pakistan has REGRESSED in terms of freedom since 1947. Indeed it is quite correct to say that personal liberties have contracted in Pakistan in the last semi century just as they have expanded everywhere else in the world. The land which was once ruled by lionhearted men is today ruled by cowards who have to assault a respectable Muslim woman in her own home to capture her husband against whom they have no charges. So much for the rule of Shari`a; in any proper polity ruled by Islamic law, such men who assaulted women would have been lashed at least eighty times if not worse. Or may be I have it wrong: perhaps the Shari`a we talk about in Pakistan is actually the Shari`a -e-Nawaz Sharif. Shame on such cowards! Maybe we should all send a large set of bangles to Nawaz Sharif, Mushahid Hussain, Gen. Musharraf, and the Taleban chief, I mean Pakistan chief, Rafiq Tarrar.

A recent United Nations` conference in Geneva voted that democracy is the right of all people and every person in the world has a right to freedom of expression, the right to take part in political dissent and a right to be free from religious persecution. Only China and Cuba abstained from voting in favor of the resolution.
The delegates also noted that economic freedom does not consitute political freedom (a reference to Chinese economic reforms, but a lack of political reforms). This right to democracy is likely to be added with other rights in the UN Charter and consequently, to be further incorporated into other legal documents and texts on the issue.

It is amazing that just when the world is moving forward on the issue of human rights as a political right, Pakistan is determined to regress into a state of repression and seems willing to risk international alienation for the sake of its political leadership`s own vested interests.

For a complete text of the article, please go to www.iht.com for Tuesday`s edition.