“Pakistan’s nuclear assets are not safe as long as Zardari exists [Zardari ke hotay huay],” said Shah Mehmood Qureshi a couple of

weeks ago. This is gutter politics based upon shameless posturing. By making this claim, Qureshi has proved that he has the genes of his father who was a collaborator of General Zia, Pakistan’s version of Beelzebub.

“I will hang Zardari at the Bhaati Gate,” threatened Shahbaz Sharif. He also said, and many times indeed, “I do not accept Zardari as the president of Pakistan!” Indeed the younger Sharif has lived up to the reputation of the elder brother that he was a seed that was planted and nourished by Generals Zia and Jilani.

“The memo is against the sovereignty of Pakistan,” thundered Nawaz Sharif. Certainly, the charges against Nawaz Sharif of corruption are harmless political diversions.

“Zardari and Pakistan cannot go together,” and “as long as Zardari is the president, fair elections cannot be held in Pakistan”, Imran Khan has warned many times. This is politics sans conscience because no proof is offered to justify the warning.

Our generals are ‘impatient’ with Zardari and think he is useless (fazool, in the words of army-inspired journalists who tell what the generals are thinking of Zardari). These great generals have always been defeated by the enemy but have repeatedly conquered the ‘bloody civilians’.

“Zardari is a rotten head,” claimed King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. This comes from a man who presides over one of the most murderous religious ideologies of the modern world.

From a petty bourgeois trader pedalling fake watches to the mightiest in Pakistan, all are agreed that Zardari is the cause of all ills in Pakistan. The other night I was invited to a dinner where I had a conversation with two friends, PhDs in engineering and economics respectively, and capable professors. Echoing Mansoor Ijaz, they claimed that Zardari was in the know of the American attack on the Osama compound. According to them, “Between the Navy SEALs’ assassination of Osama and the publication of Zardari’s article in The Washington Post, the time span was only two hours. How can Zardari write and publish an article on Osama’s assassination in such a short time unless he knew what was going to happen? How can The Washington Post publish an article at such short notice when it is known that top newspapers plan days and weeks before what to publish?”

This was not the first time that I had the luck to learn about Zardari from highly educated people. During Benazir’s first stint as prime minister, Brigadier Tariq Mehmood (called TM) died because his parachute did not open. I was a teacher at that time. A few professors of history and political science affiliated with right-wing political parties claimed that Zardari had taken money from the Israelis to fix TM’s death. Takbeer, an extreme right-wing weekly published from Karachi, printed a highly suggestive article claiming that TM had requested his superiors in the army to allow him and his fellow brave officers to parachute into Israel and they would break its back (Israel ki qamar torr denge!). At that time, Zardari did not hold any office, but was, all the same, Pakistan’s prime minister’s husband.

With the above few examples in view, it is possible to do a PhD on how Zardari is blamed for everything bad that happens in Pakistan. During last year’s floods, there were rumours that the rains were caused by the Americans, and Zardari was complicit. From very young children to those whose legs are in the grave, Zardari is the perfect punching bag to release our anger and frustration. YouTube is full of short videos showing little kids singing in chorus: “Zardari aik museebat hai” (Zardari is a nuisance), and adults saying as long as Zardari is our president, Pakistan will continue to suffer. From cheating in the examinations to Pakistan’s loss to India in Mohali (did Zardari not send Gilani to Mohali with a message for the players to throw the match, or else?) to electricity outages to bad weather, the eternal leitmotif is Zardari. The only blame he has escaped is that he planned the Mumbai attack, probably because our jihadi media does not want him to do or seem to be doing anything that can bring him Allah’s ‘blessings’. This also explains why he was not named as the man behind Salmaan Taseer’s assassination. Qadri, the ‘blessed soldier of Islam’, would never like to be associated with Zardari.

The point is: what will happen if Zardari quits politics and goes into retirement? What will happen to hundreds of journalists, thousands of politicians and their various flunkies, and millions of Pakistanis? Zardari has spawned an entire genre of yellow journalism. He has never sued, jailed, or harmed anyone for levelling the basest and meanest allegations at him. Thus, in a way, he has encouraged the journalistic industry, which lives off his ‘misdeeds’.

Once Zardari is out of office, he will be sorely missed, I can assure you. Where in the world will you find a president who is incessantly and viciously demonised, but never says a thing? One media house has been publishing one shameless lie after another, but Zardari has never said a thing. Our corps commanders hold a meeting and reject the Kerry-Lugar-Berman Act, but Zardari does not have them sacked for their insubordination. The Americans finish off Osama, but no general is sacked for complicity or incompetence (or both). There is not a single political prisoner in Pakistan today. But no one will give Zardari the benefit. People like Zaid Hamid openly invite the army to take over because Zardari is bad, but nothing happens to them. Can anyone cite just one example from Pakistan’s history where people got away with insulting the head of the state and the largest political party?

No one is willing to say that Zardari has done any good things. He is the only president in Pakistan’s history who has donated his eyes. But people smell a conspiracy in this too. Some of the good things Zardari has done include: (1) Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), (2) Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan Package, (3) 43,800 acres of land distributed among landless peasants, (4) reinstatement of sacked employees in different government and semi-government departments, (5) minimum pay for labourers increased from Rs 4,600 to Rs 7,000, (6) political rights given to the people of Gilgit-Baltistan, (7) bills for women’s rights and empowerment, (8) 18th and 19th constitutional amendments, (9) combined NFC Award, (10) Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline agreement despite American opposition, (11) kicking out of the Saudi ambassador for distributing money to Islamist terrorists, (12) forcing the Americans to tie aid to Pakistan to the continuation of democracy (this is why the generals are mad at him), (13) devolution of governance to the provinces, and (14) extension of the Political Parties Act (PPA) to FATA.

He even ordered the government to provide legal aid to Dr Aafia Siddiqui in order to appease the religious fanatics.

Those legions of journalists, politicians, goons and blackmailers who have been acting as mafiosos during Zardari’s time will find out the difference when a non-PPP government deals with them with an iron hand for criticising it. The pseudo-knowledge and bogus truisms the media has constructed about Zardari are a cynical mix of facts and fantasies. Frenzy has triumphed over reason.

http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\12\10\story_10-12-2011_pg3_4

Related articles

• What does the Pakistan Army want now? (pakistaniaat.net)
• You: President Zardari was worried before going Dubai: Aitzaz (nation.com.pk)
• US like democracy of Zardari, Nawaz: Fazlur Rehman (nation.com.pk)
• Zardari, Altaf discuss political situation (nation.com.pk)
• Zardari returns to Pakistan to face accusations of treason (independent.co.uk)

© 2011, Abbas Zaidi. This article may not be reproduced in any form without providing an active attribution link/ reference to The Pakistan Forum. All attribution links within the article must also be retained.

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A Pakistani boy drinks tea in a makeshift shelter at a livestock market ahead of Eid al-Adha in Lahore on Nov.5. The annual Islamic holiday, is marked by the ritual sacrifice after morning prayers of sheep, goats, cows and other livestock whose meat is then shared with the poor.

 

People carry posters of Pakistani cricketers Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif, who were sentenced by the London’s Southwark Crown Court to jail for their role in a fixing affair around a test match against England last year, during a protest in Multan on Nov. 3. The suspects were charged after an undercover reporter from the now defunct News of the World paper recorded Mazhar Majeed, the agent of the players, as saying he could arrange fixing schemes with Pakistan players. Butt was sentenced to 30 months and Asif received a sentence of one year. Teammate Mohammad Amir received a 6 month sentence.

 

Pakistani police officials inspect the site of a planted bomb blast in Karkhano market Peshawar, Nov. 2. One man was killed and at least 13 were injured when the bomb planted in a car exploded.

 

 

Supporters of Pakistani politician Imran Khan and chief of Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice) party, burn a replica drone during protest rally in Islamabad, Oct. 28. Khan staged a rally along with tribal elders in Islamabad against the continued US drone attacks in tribal areas which they said were killing hundreds of innocent people. Nearly 60 US drone strikes have been reported in Pakistan so far this year, dozens of them since Navy SEALs killed Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in the garrison city of Abbottabad in May.

 

 

 

Pakistani politician and chief of Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice) party, Imran Khan, left, waves to supporters during protest rally in Islamabad on Oct. 28.

 

 

 

 

The gun of a member of the Pakistani police guard rests on a rooftop as supporters of the main opposition party Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) rally against the ruling Pakistan People Party, in Lahore, Oct. 28. The opposition protested against prolonged electricity outages and urged the government to take steps to address endemic corruption and price hikes.

 

 

 

 

A still image from the video released by Taliban militants and made available to members of the media on Oct. 25, shows Swiss couple Daniela Widmer, 28, left, and Olivier David Och, 31, right, at an undisclosed location near the Pakistani-Afghan border, Oct. 15. Taliban militants holding the couple released the video in which the hostages call on the Swiss, Pakistani and the United States’ governments to release a Pakistani woman, Aafia Siddiqui, who has been convicted in the U.S. on charges of terrorism. Talibans have warned that if Aafia was not released, then their Islamic court would decide the fate of the Swiss and they will not hesitate to carry out any punishment, an indirect reference to the past executions. The Swiss couple was seized by gunmen on July 1 in the Loralai district after entering Pakistan from India.

 

Pakistani internally displaced girls wait for food at the Jalozai camp in Nowshera district on Oct. 25. At least 18,000 people have fled their homes in Pakistan’s tribal district of Khyber. Families streamed out of the district, a flash point for Taliban and other violent groups on the NATO supply line into neighboring Afghanistan, after the army ordered them to leave because of military action going on in the area.

 

Activists of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) light candles in remembrance of former first lady Nusrat Bhutto in Lahore on Oct. 24. Thousands of mourners led by President Asif Ali Zardari turned out for the burial of former Pakistani first lady Nusrat Bhutto, the mother of assassinated prime minister Benazir Bhutto. The widow of Pakistan’s first democratically elected leader, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, and mother of Benazir Bhutto, died in Dubai at the aged 82 after a long illness.

 

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leaves the Pakistani Foreign Ministry after talks with Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Kharm, right. in Islamabad on Friday, Oct. 21, 2011. Clinton urged Pakistan to take “strong steps” to deny Afghan militants safe haven and to encourage the Taliban to reconcile after 10 years of fighting.

“The latest US-Nato attack on our security forces is the gravest so far as this single assault has killed more than 28 Pakistani soldiers and injured many. The Pakistani civilian and military leadership have utterly failed to effectively respond to the US-led foreign aggression.” – Ansar Abbasi reported in The News on November 27.

Since 9/11 Pakistan has been subjected to countless attacks by the US. Let me remind my readers of the time, shortly after 9/11, when Pervez Musharraf bowed before Bush’s demands. Our safety, security and sovereignty were compromised there and then, as soon as it was decided that we would be an ally and party to the heinous crimes and anti-humanity agenda that was to be pursued by the US on our soil.

This understanding and the pacts formulated as a result paved the way for 56,000 sorties which took off from Pakistani soil and bombed our brethren in Afghanistan. The same became the basis of ruthless human rights abuses which took place in their cover. Illegal abductions ,disappearances, target killings, mass terrorism and destruction programmes have plagued and haunted this poor nation, pushing it to the brink of collapse. Some of the world’s most notorious prisons and detention sites, such as Guantanamo Bay and Bagram Air Base, were created in the aftermath of 9/11 and have since become spaces where humanity bleeds to date.

A direct attack on our armed forces on November 26, 2011, no matter how serious an offensive it may seem, is still nothing in comparison to what the poor civilians have been subjected to as consequences of bad policies and the aggressive launch of the war on terror by the Americans in a bid to acquire control over the region.

The question is how much more time the civil and armed leadership would need to wake up from its slumber and finally realise the interests of its own civilians and nation. The US has been aggressive from the beginning and has been maintaining its stance. On the other hand, we (the Pakistani civil and military leadership), have been behaving as slaves most of the time; sometimes apologetically and other times trying to appear bold, but in truth, speaking out in timid defiance at best. It shows nothing but our pathetic failure in defending the nation, in spite of being a nuclear power and, according to most accounts, the sixth largest army in the world.

From the May 2 operation to handing over Shamsi base; the GHQ attacks; the Raymond Davis issue; all the acts of terrorism and ongoing disappearances of Pakistani nationals for the sake of dollars; drone attacks; the current Memogate issue – the list of unfortunate incidents that have taken place here is unlimited. Each incident speaks volumes of the repeated embarrassments the nation has suffered and our government’s cowardice in the face of it all.

What is left of a country like Pakistan which receives dictation from the foreign powers – the orders becoming increasingly strict since 9/11? We are drained morally, economically, socially and psychologically; moving fast to meet our end. All that is left is honour and integrity. There is a moral imperative to act now to salvage what little remains.

Speaking from a purely humanitarian angle, representing the masses and particularly the aggrieved who have suffered the deadly spell of Pak-US cooperation, I would advise the leadership to remain silent but let its actions speak out loud and clear this time, in favour of a change.

The utter dejection of the families of missing persons, the unsolved mysteries of the unnumbered disappeared, the tragic tales of pain and grief, of forced separation from loved ones, the legacy of Dr Aafia Siddiqui who was sentenced to 86 years of imprisonment by the US – all this lies heavy on the nation’s conscience.

Unfortunately, the masses have lost faith in the political or armed leadership as they have repeatedly been cheated, ignored and left to suffer endlessly. However, the last ray of hope or opportunity remains, given that there is a willingness to undo the harm that has been done. The following steps need to be taken without further delay:

• Block the Nato supply line once and for all.

• Immediately release all the missing persons dumped in detention cells, share lists of their names and reveal their status and place of custody.

• Negotiate and facilitate Dr Aafia’s release via diplomatic channels.

• Revise foreign policy to better serve the interests of the nation.

• No cooperation with the US; freeze all ongoing projects with it.

• Specify a date for achieving the above mentioned targets.

• The National Reconciliation agenda for the comfort of the aggrieved.

All this must be initiated immediately and implemented in letter and spirit without mention and rhetoric. I repeat “without mention” as the leadership’s words and promises have lost credibility. It is time now to act. This is the only way to win back the people of this aggrieved nation.

The writer is chairperson Defence of Human Rights.
Email: mrsjanjua@gmail.com , chairpersondhr@gmail.com.
Website: www.dhrpk.org

Courtesy: The News International