fatman17
PDF THINK TANK: CONSULTANT
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2007
- Messages
- 32,563
- Reaction score
- 98
- Country
- Location
Editorial: Come back from the brink, please!
After meeting his leader Nawaz Sharif at Raiwind on Monday, the PMLN Information Secretary, Mr Ahsan Iqbal, has issued a 48-hour ultimatum for the PPP government to stop maligning Mr Nawaz Sharif or face hundreds of corruption stories involving PPP leaders. He was referring to the daily revelations being made by Brigadier Imtiaz Ahmad Billa (retd) courtesy an overexcited media.
This was predictable even though reaction to Brigadier Ahmads revelations was clearly becoming negative. Not only had more spooks crawled out of the woodwork to contest his secrets, he was himself undergoing a gradual death by media. Why has the PMLN acted in anger? Had there been a cool headed discussion before letting Mr Ahsan off the leash, the decision would have been to stay cool.
The other side has been silent so far but reacted to Mr Ahsans statement in much the same language. Fortunately, however, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani was moderate in his reaction when he said that politicians should show maturity while in the crosshairs of certain elements out to defame them. Since the Presidency was accused of orchestrating the vilification campaign, the retort from there could be interpreted as: Go ahead! We dont care!
The bitterness of the PPP was clearly a leftover from the minus one campaign unleashed earlier by some TV channels and newspapers. The target was President Zardari and some anchors and chief reporters were allowed to cross the line of decency and fair play. That campaign was tacitly attributed to the PMLN simply because the PMLN Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, was crossing his own limits of anti-government diatribe. He had accused the MQM of being the henchman of the PPP in its attacks against the PMLN.
Brigadier Ahmad continues to swear loyalty to Mr Nawaz Sharif but shows lack of pragmatic wisdom by absolving the MQM of Jinnahpur. Somehow, the pending Mehrangate Case at the Supreme Court too got exhumed by the media and more dirt began to fly against all the anti-PPP forces of the past, led, of course, by Mr Sharifs PML. Given the kind of wits demonstrated by the bean-spilling brigadier in question, one cannot say that the PPP could have masterminded the campaign even though it has benefited from it
The question is why did Brigadier Billa do it? We can give the following possible reasons which are in any case more cogent than the conclusions drawn by the PMLN. (1) Like all spooks, Billa knows about hundreds of unimportant but sensational past events and lacks the maturity to contain himself, indeed seeks to return to the limelight after years in the wilderness; (2) He is deluded into thinking that he will be admired for his moral courage and not be discovered as a self-important simpleton; (3) He wants recognition for his personalised vision of national security now that he is free to put it before the nation. (4) He is bitter because Mr Sharif didnt help him while he was in prison during the Musharraf years and then didnt allow him to regain his confidence and come close to him in the PMLN after Brigadier Billa came out of prison.
There can be reasons too relating to his personal disappointments. For instance, (1) He was ill-compensated for his services to his bosses in the ISI and the army, who left him in the lurch when the heat came upon him after Operation Midnight Jackals; (2) He is trying to pay back some fellow professionals who disliked him and were responsible for making the cases of corruption stick against him.
Some of the bitterness has oozed out of him on TV. He thinks he had gone out on a limb for Mr Sharif but was not appreciated while he was PMLNs IB chief. He thinks Mr Sharif in power was surrounded by a wrong set of people who would not allow his advice to prevail with Mr Sharif. He simply cant fathom that Mr Sharif may have ignored him on merit and that Mr Sharif could have stayed away from him after 1999 because of a change of political style. More lethally, he may still not realise that his revelations may be interpreted by Mr Sharif as character-assassination.
If it is maturity that compelled Mr Sharif to stay clear of Imtiaz Billa, it should also recommend to him abstinence from issuing ultimatums of war. What will happen now, for instance, when the Presidency and the PPP have counter-challenged him to do whatever he can? Equally, however, the PPP should show maturity by not escalating the war of words through counter-challenges. It has bigger challenges confronting it in the shape of the economy and the war against terror.
http://www.thedailytimes.com.pk
After meeting his leader Nawaz Sharif at Raiwind on Monday, the PMLN Information Secretary, Mr Ahsan Iqbal, has issued a 48-hour ultimatum for the PPP government to stop maligning Mr Nawaz Sharif or face hundreds of corruption stories involving PPP leaders. He was referring to the daily revelations being made by Brigadier Imtiaz Ahmad Billa (retd) courtesy an overexcited media.
This was predictable even though reaction to Brigadier Ahmads revelations was clearly becoming negative. Not only had more spooks crawled out of the woodwork to contest his secrets, he was himself undergoing a gradual death by media. Why has the PMLN acted in anger? Had there been a cool headed discussion before letting Mr Ahsan off the leash, the decision would have been to stay cool.
The other side has been silent so far but reacted to Mr Ahsans statement in much the same language. Fortunately, however, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani was moderate in his reaction when he said that politicians should show maturity while in the crosshairs of certain elements out to defame them. Since the Presidency was accused of orchestrating the vilification campaign, the retort from there could be interpreted as: Go ahead! We dont care!
The bitterness of the PPP was clearly a leftover from the minus one campaign unleashed earlier by some TV channels and newspapers. The target was President Zardari and some anchors and chief reporters were allowed to cross the line of decency and fair play. That campaign was tacitly attributed to the PMLN simply because the PMLN Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, was crossing his own limits of anti-government diatribe. He had accused the MQM of being the henchman of the PPP in its attacks against the PMLN.
Brigadier Ahmad continues to swear loyalty to Mr Nawaz Sharif but shows lack of pragmatic wisdom by absolving the MQM of Jinnahpur. Somehow, the pending Mehrangate Case at the Supreme Court too got exhumed by the media and more dirt began to fly against all the anti-PPP forces of the past, led, of course, by Mr Sharifs PML. Given the kind of wits demonstrated by the bean-spilling brigadier in question, one cannot say that the PPP could have masterminded the campaign even though it has benefited from it
The question is why did Brigadier Billa do it? We can give the following possible reasons which are in any case more cogent than the conclusions drawn by the PMLN. (1) Like all spooks, Billa knows about hundreds of unimportant but sensational past events and lacks the maturity to contain himself, indeed seeks to return to the limelight after years in the wilderness; (2) He is deluded into thinking that he will be admired for his moral courage and not be discovered as a self-important simpleton; (3) He wants recognition for his personalised vision of national security now that he is free to put it before the nation. (4) He is bitter because Mr Sharif didnt help him while he was in prison during the Musharraf years and then didnt allow him to regain his confidence and come close to him in the PMLN after Brigadier Billa came out of prison.
There can be reasons too relating to his personal disappointments. For instance, (1) He was ill-compensated for his services to his bosses in the ISI and the army, who left him in the lurch when the heat came upon him after Operation Midnight Jackals; (2) He is trying to pay back some fellow professionals who disliked him and were responsible for making the cases of corruption stick against him.
Some of the bitterness has oozed out of him on TV. He thinks he had gone out on a limb for Mr Sharif but was not appreciated while he was PMLNs IB chief. He thinks Mr Sharif in power was surrounded by a wrong set of people who would not allow his advice to prevail with Mr Sharif. He simply cant fathom that Mr Sharif may have ignored him on merit and that Mr Sharif could have stayed away from him after 1999 because of a change of political style. More lethally, he may still not realise that his revelations may be interpreted by Mr Sharif as character-assassination.
If it is maturity that compelled Mr Sharif to stay clear of Imtiaz Billa, it should also recommend to him abstinence from issuing ultimatums of war. What will happen now, for instance, when the Presidency and the PPP have counter-challenged him to do whatever he can? Equally, however, the PPP should show maturity by not escalating the war of words through counter-challenges. It has bigger challenges confronting it in the shape of the economy and the war against terror.
http://www.thedailytimes.com.pk
