Ali Malik's blog

The recent crisis in the ruling Muslim League in Pakistani has taken some interesting and funny twists and turns. It started with the meeting of four, then Shujat's televised statement about Jamali, then Jamali's reaction to it, removal of ARYOneWorld from the list of channels of major cable operators (and we call it a country with free media), statements of League leaders (Humayun Akhtar Khan, Leghari, Jamali, Wasti etc.) against Shujat, then Jamali's visit to Shujat's place and subsequent meetings, Shujat's U-turn on what he said about Jamali despite all what the nation saw and heard for themselves on TV, and last but not the least the big Nanny jumping in and calling all the kids and lecturing them to behave properly. And in the end all summed up by Sheikh Rasheed "Everyone has agreed to work at the same pay". But one thing that still remains unanswered is why did it all begin and who wanted it? Some say it is because of the coming local bodies polls an...

PPP's strength lies in her worker base. The worker base is committed to the cause of democracy and is anti-establishment in essence. Anyone making an arrangement with Army will be considered a traitor in the ranks of PPP and cannot be accepted. The leadership revolves around Benazir Bhutto and it will be hard for anyone to succeed her. Everyone will agree that a free and fair election, held today, will lead to nothing but PPP in power with quite a sizeable majority along with governments at Punjab and Sindh for sure and NWFP and Balochistan probably. Now if the present regime goes for election now and it sows the seed of doubt that all this is being done as a result of a deal between PPP and establishment, the credibility of that majority would diminish. A little help from some high ranking PPP men (in the form of their statements showing eagerness to have dialogue with the men in Khaki) will strengthen that view even further. If they decide to work with Musharaf in presidency, it ...

Of American journalism in the first quarter of the last century the incomparable H. L. Mencken had this to say: “Most of the ills that continue to beset American journalism today, in truth, are not due to the rascality of owners nor even to the Kiwanian bombast of business managers, but simply and solely to the stupidity, cowardice and Philistinism of working newspaper men...There are reporters by the thousand who could not pass the entrance examination for Harvard or Tuskegee, or even Yale. It is this vast and militant ignorance, this widespread and fathomless prejudice against intelligence, that makes American journalism so pathetically feeble and vulgar, and so generally disreputable.” With minor amendments this judgment is equally applicable to Pakistani journalism.Ayaz Amir - Daily Dawn

The language that he used "they wouldn't know what has hit them" proves once more that Musharaf has no sense of handling state affairs... It is the same mindset that caused the debacle of East Pakistan and God forbid Balochistan seems the next target. We Pakistanis should condemn it every possible way. They are trying to justify the army action in Sui through gas load-shedding.. beware Pakistanis.... Nothing but our nationhood is at stake. In this crisis we have an opportunity to turn ourselves into one nation.... I, a born Punjabi, announe today that I am a citizen of Balochistan.... can we all do this and say that any attack on Balochs will be considered an attack on us.... I am upset at what is happening around... another savior is here to cause destruction to our land.... when will we wake up???? Wake up and stop oppression of Balochs.... as some one once said....Zindagi maut naan bun haee sambhalu yaro - sirfaroshi ki kasam - khatrae main hai yeah watan

Very interesting excerpts from Tim Russert's Sunday interview of Michael Scheuer, the previously anonymous author of "Imperail Hubris." MR. RUSSERT: I want to read something else from your book. "....many of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims hate us for actions, not values, will get America out of this war.""Actions, not values." What are the actions that created this hatred in the Muslim world? MR. SCHEUER: Our foreign policy, sir, about six items that bin Laden has isolated...He has created an agenda that appeals to Muslims whether they are fundamentalists or liberals or moderates. Our unqualified support for Israel is one. Our ability to keep oil prices low, enough for Western consumers, is another. Our presence on the Arabian peninsula certainly is another. Our military presence in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, in Yemen, in the Philippines, in other Muslim countries is a fourth. Our support for governments that are widely viewed as su...

In recent days Imran Khan has emerged as a real sensable spokes person. First when asked whether Altaf Hussain should have said what he has said in Delhi, Imran defended Altaf's right of free speech though at the same time differed with his views greatly. Then he said that he is ready to form an alliance with any political party on three issues; independent judiciary, independent election commission and independent accountability bureau. And then just yesterday he said that he cannot rule out an alliance with some major political force in the coming elections. All three instances show that he is maturing as a politician. Freedom of speech and tolerance of a good listener is probably the most important trait that our society needs right now. Anyone must be allowed to say anything and express any views and yet at the same time even if we disagree with his or her opinion, the practice of labelling people as traitors and kafirs must stop here. Neither our religion nor nationalism is w...

Democratic Pakistan

The opposition parties seem all set to start a nationwide movement against General Musharaf on the issue of uniform. His opponents believe that with the changing geopolitical environment, General’s time is up. But whether now or later, General has to go one day and, if history is anything to go by, with him will go his system too. We can hope that once he is gone the country will revert to the track of relatively legitimate elections and a democratic course as happened in the years following Gen. Zia or even his predecessors. But if there is anything to be learnt from the post-Zia democratic experience, this time around, the political class of the country must be ready to take up the challenges left by the legacy of 5 years of provisional rule. So just when they are gearing up to start a movement against the General, this time it will be wise for them to plan for the times to come. Partly contributed by the provisional government and partly by the external and internal factors, Paki...

How often has the sky seen the coffin of a General be accompanied by 40 heads of states? How often have you seen a death being commemorated around the world? How often have you seen a funeral of a leader being completely taken over by the ordinary masses from the authorities and organizers? And how often have you seen a stateless hostage imprinting his significance and relevance throughout the region after being declared irrelevant by the Caesars and Czars of Washington and Israel. His departure from Ramallah was the departure of a popular leader. The state ceremony on his departure from Paris was the departure befitting a revolutionary. His funeral in Cairo was the funeral of the biggest leader of the region. And his burial in Ramallah was the burial of a freedom fighter, peoples' leader (US needs democracy in the Middle East yet they were not willing to talk to the most popular leader of Palestine). In the words of an Indian columnist – The icon is dead but the legend lives o...