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Ikram Sehgal
Thursday, December 22, 2011
The Supreme Court having given notice to several respondents in the Mansoor Ijaz-Husain Haqqani memo issue, the government resorted to its usual ploy of attempting to frustrate the course of justice. The first salvo was Dr Babar Awans vitriolic attack on Tariq Khosa, appointed by the Supreme Court as a one-man commission to enquire into the veracity of the accusations and the replies thereof. Both as a superbly competent professional and as an icon of integrity, Tariq Khosa was eminently qualified for the task entrusted to him by the Supreme Court.
Awan repeatedly takes the low road in keeping with his personality profile. Which honourable and upright person would like his family to be subjected to his gutter nonsense? Awan may have successfully frustrated the Supreme Court initiative, but it may turn out to be a Pyrrhic victory in the face of possible contempt of court proceedings. Incidentally, it is high time some habitual liars were made an example of by the Supreme Court for blatant perjury.
Initially Zardaris illness was claimed to be a heart ailment. Speculation of a number of suspected presidential ailments turned out later to be probably a minor stroke. The all is well video clips on the prodigals return to the country displayed visible signs of damage on the left side of the face. His return did quell rumours somewhat, and whether these develop will only be known in the coming days.
With selective memory, Gen Jones belatedly recollected in his affidavit to the Supreme Court that Mansoor Ijaz had talked to him about the memo a few days before May 9, thereby casting doubt on the timeline in Ijazs affidavit. The prime minister immediately declared with a bland face that the whole fuss was over and the memo had become a non-issue. The Supreme Court showed no sign of agreeing with him. In any case, a counter-affidavit filed by Ijaz within hours effectively refuted Jones afterthought.
Very much like what happened in Z A Bhuttos case, instead of trying to demolish the criminal evidence and taking the forensic evidence apart, the defence is political. PPP functionaries are going to town in the character assassination of Mansoor Ijaz. Belatedly they are now targeting Shuja Pasha too. The focus is on ISI director generals tour of Arab capitals soon after the May 2 fiasco, supposedly to seek their approval for removing Zardari. It is mind-boggling why anyone staging a coup in Pakistan would seek Arab approval? Duly reported in the media at that time, Pasha did go to some Arab destinations in May to apprise them of our point of view in the Abbottabad fiasco. Such spin first surfaced in early November, but was seized upon by Zardaris men (and women) on the strength of an article of Dec 13, and duly referred to by the government in their submission on Dec 16 to the Supreme Court talk of clutching at straws! How and why, during his state visit to the US in 2009, did the president find time to meet this despicable character in a Washington Hotel, courtesy of Pakistani ambassador Husain Haqqani, and for 45 minutes?
The Supreme Court observed that if the president chooses not to reply to the allegations raised in the petition than by default he is accepting its substance. If Asif Ali Zardari does not distance himself from Haqqani, he will be in deep trouble because of the rule of law. As it is, giving presidential protection to Haqqani renders guilt by association. If the president does cast him out in the cold, than the nature of Haqqani will take its course: where is the surety he will not turn states evidence to save his own neck?
Political Pakistan is undergoing wholesale transformation. To start with, the present emasculation of the PPP, from its once pre-eminent status of the only real national party of Pakistan, is a real tragedy. Asif Zardari may have concentrated political power as never before since Z A Bhuttos rule, but his close aides are more entrants to the party. The PPP old guard has been discarded or sidelined, some left the party out of sheer frustration and the dissenting voices of those sulking in their winter of discontent have been stifled by various means, fair and foul mostly foul.
With the masses disenchanted with Shahbaz Sharifs running of Punjab, the PML -N has also lost ground. Mian Nawaz Sharif has not helped by standing by Ataullah Khan Mengals side while Mengal was calling the Pakistani army a Punjabi army. While kill and dump methods must be stopped forthwith, Mengal does not seem to have any qualms about Baloch youth murdering those Punjabis living for ages in Balochistan. Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain having sacrificed politics at the altar of Moonis Elahis greed, the PML-Q continues to disintegrate, albeit in slow motion. By the way, has anyone heard of (or from) Zulfikar Mirza lately?
With electables joining the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in droves, the PTI now looks like a political party should. The situation is now ripe for the acid test of popularity at the polls, but this cannot happen without a resolution of the NRO issue and the Memogate scandal. That is the domain of the Supreme Court.
Political power seems to have perceptibly shifted from the Presidency to the Prime Ministers House, or is this only an illusion? Prime Minister Gilanis handing over the telephone to Kayani while receiving a call from Zardari from Dubai put the army chief in an awkward position vis-a-vis public perception about a deal being struck. That was probably Gilanis aim, and the impression is reinforced by the presidents return the next night. This constant spinning of the truth defines Zardaris PPP, and our uniformed persons repeatedly get entangled in such a web.
The PPP is great at spinning facts but spin-masters are far different from those who manipulate the web successfully for public perception. Given that Zardari was hors de combat in the American Hospital in Dubai and Haqqanis evil brilliance was immobilised because of the emasculation of the communication access that is his power potential, how were both the judicial and political processes successfully delayed from coming to their natural conclusion? That filibuster is the mission statement of the webmaster!
A webmasters duties include devising and operating strategy, overseeing not just the technical aspects of governance but also management of the content thereof. In the political sense a webmaster controls the bureaucracy and runs a parallel government from behind the scenes. With absolute charge over all functions and functionaries, he overrides the democratic facade as and when required, changing rules of business at will. Sharifuddin Pirzada was a webmaster for several military dictators in the legal sense, Tariq Aziz was useful to Musharraf more in the political sense. Given his mentors lack of experience in governance. Zardaris consigliere casts a much wider web and manipulation thereof. His unlimited access to him also gives him much more authority. Operating mostly in the shadows, the webmaster is not answerable to anyone but the boss. Being cocooned from attribution and calling in umpteen favours given by him to the media, he is buffered from accountability of any kind.
The constant evil that our present webmaster exudes has put every institution in the nation at risk. If the institutions collapse, the nation also will.
The writer is a defence and political analyst. Email: isehgal@pathfinder 9.com
Ikram Sehgal
Thursday, December 22, 2011
The Supreme Court having given notice to several respondents in the Mansoor Ijaz-Husain Haqqani memo issue, the government resorted to its usual ploy of attempting to frustrate the course of justice. The first salvo was Dr Babar Awans vitriolic attack on Tariq Khosa, appointed by the Supreme Court as a one-man commission to enquire into the veracity of the accusations and the replies thereof. Both as a superbly competent professional and as an icon of integrity, Tariq Khosa was eminently qualified for the task entrusted to him by the Supreme Court.
Awan repeatedly takes the low road in keeping with his personality profile. Which honourable and upright person would like his family to be subjected to his gutter nonsense? Awan may have successfully frustrated the Supreme Court initiative, but it may turn out to be a Pyrrhic victory in the face of possible contempt of court proceedings. Incidentally, it is high time some habitual liars were made an example of by the Supreme Court for blatant perjury.
Initially Zardaris illness was claimed to be a heart ailment. Speculation of a number of suspected presidential ailments turned out later to be probably a minor stroke. The all is well video clips on the prodigals return to the country displayed visible signs of damage on the left side of the face. His return did quell rumours somewhat, and whether these develop will only be known in the coming days.
With selective memory, Gen Jones belatedly recollected in his affidavit to the Supreme Court that Mansoor Ijaz had talked to him about the memo a few days before May 9, thereby casting doubt on the timeline in Ijazs affidavit. The prime minister immediately declared with a bland face that the whole fuss was over and the memo had become a non-issue. The Supreme Court showed no sign of agreeing with him. In any case, a counter-affidavit filed by Ijaz within hours effectively refuted Jones afterthought.
Very much like what happened in Z A Bhuttos case, instead of trying to demolish the criminal evidence and taking the forensic evidence apart, the defence is political. PPP functionaries are going to town in the character assassination of Mansoor Ijaz. Belatedly they are now targeting Shuja Pasha too. The focus is on ISI director generals tour of Arab capitals soon after the May 2 fiasco, supposedly to seek their approval for removing Zardari. It is mind-boggling why anyone staging a coup in Pakistan would seek Arab approval? Duly reported in the media at that time, Pasha did go to some Arab destinations in May to apprise them of our point of view in the Abbottabad fiasco. Such spin first surfaced in early November, but was seized upon by Zardaris men (and women) on the strength of an article of Dec 13, and duly referred to by the government in their submission on Dec 16 to the Supreme Court talk of clutching at straws! How and why, during his state visit to the US in 2009, did the president find time to meet this despicable character in a Washington Hotel, courtesy of Pakistani ambassador Husain Haqqani, and for 45 minutes?
The Supreme Court observed that if the president chooses not to reply to the allegations raised in the petition than by default he is accepting its substance. If Asif Ali Zardari does not distance himself from Haqqani, he will be in deep trouble because of the rule of law. As it is, giving presidential protection to Haqqani renders guilt by association. If the president does cast him out in the cold, than the nature of Haqqani will take its course: where is the surety he will not turn states evidence to save his own neck?
Political Pakistan is undergoing wholesale transformation. To start with, the present emasculation of the PPP, from its once pre-eminent status of the only real national party of Pakistan, is a real tragedy. Asif Zardari may have concentrated political power as never before since Z A Bhuttos rule, but his close aides are more entrants to the party. The PPP old guard has been discarded or sidelined, some left the party out of sheer frustration and the dissenting voices of those sulking in their winter of discontent have been stifled by various means, fair and foul mostly foul.
With the masses disenchanted with Shahbaz Sharifs running of Punjab, the PML -N has also lost ground. Mian Nawaz Sharif has not helped by standing by Ataullah Khan Mengals side while Mengal was calling the Pakistani army a Punjabi army. While kill and dump methods must be stopped forthwith, Mengal does not seem to have any qualms about Baloch youth murdering those Punjabis living for ages in Balochistan. Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain having sacrificed politics at the altar of Moonis Elahis greed, the PML-Q continues to disintegrate, albeit in slow motion. By the way, has anyone heard of (or from) Zulfikar Mirza lately?
With electables joining the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in droves, the PTI now looks like a political party should. The situation is now ripe for the acid test of popularity at the polls, but this cannot happen without a resolution of the NRO issue and the Memogate scandal. That is the domain of the Supreme Court.
Political power seems to have perceptibly shifted from the Presidency to the Prime Ministers House, or is this only an illusion? Prime Minister Gilanis handing over the telephone to Kayani while receiving a call from Zardari from Dubai put the army chief in an awkward position vis-a-vis public perception about a deal being struck. That was probably Gilanis aim, and the impression is reinforced by the presidents return the next night. This constant spinning of the truth defines Zardaris PPP, and our uniformed persons repeatedly get entangled in such a web.
The PPP is great at spinning facts but spin-masters are far different from those who manipulate the web successfully for public perception. Given that Zardari was hors de combat in the American Hospital in Dubai and Haqqanis evil brilliance was immobilised because of the emasculation of the communication access that is his power potential, how were both the judicial and political processes successfully delayed from coming to their natural conclusion? That filibuster is the mission statement of the webmaster!
A webmasters duties include devising and operating strategy, overseeing not just the technical aspects of governance but also management of the content thereof. In the political sense a webmaster controls the bureaucracy and runs a parallel government from behind the scenes. With absolute charge over all functions and functionaries, he overrides the democratic facade as and when required, changing rules of business at will. Sharifuddin Pirzada was a webmaster for several military dictators in the legal sense, Tariq Aziz was useful to Musharraf more in the political sense. Given his mentors lack of experience in governance. Zardaris consigliere casts a much wider web and manipulation thereof. His unlimited access to him also gives him much more authority. Operating mostly in the shadows, the webmaster is not answerable to anyone but the boss. Being cocooned from attribution and calling in umpteen favours given by him to the media, he is buffered from accountability of any kind.
The constant evil that our present webmaster exudes has put every institution in the nation at risk. If the institutions collapse, the nation also will.
The writer is a defence and political analyst. Email: isehgal@pathfinder 9.com
