Baseless Hue and Cry on Kerry Lugar Bill

A section in Pakistan media has raised a storm in a tea cup about Kerry Lugar bill and has called it a sellout. Looking at it rationally it seems the best deal Pakistan got get and has got in its history.

In the 1980s the US congress passed the Pakistan Aid Bill for US $ 3.2 Billion over a period of 5 years and the Bill, which required 10-12 Presidential Certifications (at different times) every year including on restoration of democracy, human rights protection, nuclear non proliferation and drugs control.

In the 2003 Congress again passed Pakistan Aid Bill for US 3 billion over a period of 5 years and that too included Presidential waivers certifying Pakistan is moving toward restoration of democracy, nuclear non proliferation, countering terrorism etc.

Kerry- Lugar Bill is the first Pakistan Aid Bill that does not carry Presidential certification every year. However the Secretary Of State has to certify that Pakistan is moving on path to democracy, nuclear non proliferation and control of democracy. This is also Pakistan State Policy.

In any case, it is for US Congress to determine US conditions and for Pakistan to reject aid with conditions it deems unacceptable. In case of the Kerry Lugar bill, the Govt of Pakistan does not consider any condition onerous or unfulfillable. All branches of the Pakistan government have examined and understand the implications of the bill as passed and the Govt is confident that it does not impose humiliating or restrictive condionality. Needless to say this aid package is the best deal Pakistan can get. What is most surprising is that just when Army itself has become custodian on democratic rule why are these fundo elements of media trying to create chaos?

The media fundos cannot digest a Pakistan moving on the path of political and economic stability and have resorted to tactics of lie, deceit and propaganda.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kissa sote jagte ka

Image
The establishment which had our country in her grip for decades is exposed as a result of their infighting. But most surprisingly, the "independent media" is desperate to cover their beloved elements of the establishment (read Nawaz Sharif). Anchors, columnists, spin doctors of PML-N and media in their attempts to cover this mess are creating stories at par with Alif Laila and Kissa Sote Jagte Ka . This Kissa Sote Jagte Ka has signs of their desperation and changing times. It all started with Supreme Court's hearing of petition against Nov. 3 actions of General Musharraf. Supreme Court, partly riding on vendetta and partly on the quest for limelight, in one of its observations on July 29th proclaimed that if Cromwell's skeleton can be hanged after his death, it is time to punish the violators of the constitution in Pakistan. (Below is an image of Express News' next day coverage of Daily Express). Next day, Supreme Court had a complete change of heart ruling they
Read more

An Enigma called Imran Khan

I know this one is going to be the most controversial of all my posts. Yet at the same time I deliberated the most while writing this. This post in many ways is crumbling of the myth of my childhood fascination and idol. If there was anything that I followed like mad in my childhood, it was my hero, my idol, the demigod of my childhood – Imran Khan. I would mimic everything that I found him doing. I would bowl for hours in the scotching heat of June and July in street and in the courtyard. I went ecstatic when I found that he too is a Fish-buff like me. His father, Niazi Uncle (someone I have learnt a lot from, and someone who has always been extremely kind to me), is a good friend of my father and a mentor to me. Through this connection I had the privilege of meeting my childhood idol a few times. When he initiated fund raising for cancer hospital, I was selling tickets at fuel stations, road sides, walkways and shops. When he formed Tehrik -e- Insaaf , I was one of its earliest m
Read more

Bahar Aai (It’s Spring) – Translation of a Poem by Faiz Ahmad Faiz

It is spring And have come from oblivion All the dreams and all the youth That died in quest of thy lips Blossomed are the roses Those fragrant with thy memory And colored with thy lovers’ blood It is spring And erupting are the volcanoes of guilt The grief for friends fallen The mirage of nymphs courted Open is all what laid in an ashen heart Questions unanswered Thine and mine It’s spring And open are the wounds long healed
Read more