Telenor Group and the Wikimedia Foundation today announced a new partnership to offer Wikipedia free of traffic charges on mobile devices to Telenor customers in Asia and Southeastern Europe. By making versions of Wikipedia available to 135 million mobile customers, Telenor Group and the Wikimedia Foundation demonstrate a shared commitment to increasing access to the free and open knowledge available on Wikipedia.

This initiative is part of the Wikimedia Foundation’s mobile strategy, which focuses on reaching the billions of people around the world whose primary opportunity to access the Internet is via a mobile device.

“The Wikimedia Foundation is working to remove barriers to free knowledge, and for most people around the world right now, cost and accessibility are the two biggest hurdles,” says Barry Newstead, Wikimedia Chief Global Development Officer. “We applaud Telenor for joining us to deliver free access to Wikipedia for their customers. Through this partnership, we move a step closer to providing the sum of all knowledge to everyone in the world.”

This partnership supports Telenor’s commitment to bring more value to its mobile customers. Especially, the company has pioneered the development of value-adding services to rural and underserved communities in Asia. Telenor involve millions in Asia through the I-Genius project, which has already reached out to 300,000 Bangladeshi students and school-children with a call to explore open knowledge on the internet.

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with the Wikimedia Foundation. Telenor have pioneered affordable, mobile communications across much of Asia, and we have built a track record of offering vital services with a significant outreach” says Kristin Skogen Lund, Executive Vice President and Head of Digital Services at Telenor Group. “With this agreement, we are first in Asia to bring a vast knowledge source to the millions in underserved communities across the region.”

The 3-year partnership between Telenor Group and the Wikimedia Foundation will cover 135 million users. The agreement is signed by seven countries: Thailand, Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Montenegro, and Serbia. By the end of the year, more markets are expected to join. The agreement will be implemented step by step throughout 2012, with the first markets launching during the second quarter.

Each local Telenor affiliate will establish technical solutions together with the Wikimedia Foundation. Customers with a Telenor SIM will be able to access a version of the encyclopedia for as many times as they like in a given period, at no charge, as long as they stay within Wikipedia’s pages.

Telenor Pakistan is yet to comment on this development and also confirm on the modalities and timeline for implementation of free of charges wikipedia browsing in Pakistan.

via Press Release

By George Packer for The New Yorker

President Kennedy’s 1960 speech on religious freedom makes Rick Santorum “throw up.” “What kind of country do we live in that says only people of nonfaith can come into the public square and make their case?” Santorum says. It’s a central part of his campaign strategy to distort such things as a Kennedy speech, or an Obama speech, to whip up outrage at the supposed war on religious people in America. Here’s what Kennedy said:

I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute; where no Catholic prelate would tell the President—should he be Catholic—how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote; where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference, and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the President who might appoint him, or the people who might elect him… I believe in a President whose religious views are his own private affair.

Kennedy said much more, but this is the strongest passage of that famous campaign speech to a group of ministers in Houston, in which he argued that the election of a Catholic President who believed in the Constitution shouldn’t concern any American who believed in the Constitution—and, Santorum says, “That makes me throw up.” Santorum’s rhetorical eloquence is about equal to his analytical skill. Kennedy had nothing to say against believers entering public life, or believers bringing their religious conscience to bear on public policy. He spoke against any move to make religion official. The Constitution speaks against this, too—Article VI establishes an oath to the Constitution as the basis for public office, and explicitly prohibits a religious test, while the First Amendment forbids the official establishment of religion and protects its free practice. Santorum claims to be a constitutionalist, but that’s just rhetoric and opportunism. Santorum believes in a religious test—that may be all he believes in. (Mitt Romney believes in a religious test of a slimy, halfway, Romneyesque variety: in 2007, he reportedly dismissed the idea of appointing a Muslim to his Cabinet, saying, “Based on the numbers of American Muslims [as a percentage] in our population, I cannot see that a Cabinet position would be justified.” So does Newt Gingrich, who has made atheist-baiting a central part of his political business.)

Kennedy seemed to have someone like Santorum in mind when he warned, “For while this year it may be a Catholic against whom the finger of suspicion is pointed, in other years it has been—and may someday be again—a Jew, or a Quaker, or a Unitarian, or a Baptist. It was Virginia’s harassment of Baptist preachers, for example, that led to Jefferson’s statute of religious freedom. Today, I may be the victim, but tomorrow it may be you—until the whole fabric of our harmonious society is ripped apart at a time of great national peril.” In 1960, it would have been hard to imagine how thoroughly religious sectarianism and intolerance would infect American politics, and especially one major party. The outcry over Obama’s policy on health insurance and contraception has almost nothing to do with that part of the First Amendment about the right to free religious practice, which is under no threat in this country. It is all about a modern conservative Kulturkampf that will not accept the other part of the religion clause, which prohibits any official religion.

Santorum, like most conservatives these days, says he is a constitutionalist. Jefferson wrote, and Madison worked to pass, the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom, which held that “all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.” Jefferson included an even stronger phrase that was eventually struck out by amendment: “the opinions of men are not the object of civil government, nor under its jurisdiction.” Presumably, all of this originalist nonsense makes Rick Santorum heave, gag, vomit, and puke.

What makes me throw up is the story of Hamza Kashgari. It’s a shame that every American doesn’t know his name. He’s a young, slender, philosophical-minded columnist and blogger from Saudi Arabia who, earlier this month, dared to tweet phrases of an imagined conversation with the Prophet Mohammad: “I have loved things about you and I have hated things about you and there is a lot I don’t understand about you…I loved the rebel in you…I will not pray for you.” Within twenty-four hours, more than thirty thousand furious replies had been posted on Twitter. Within a few days, more than twenty thousand people had signed on to a Facebook page called “Saudi People Want Punishment for Hamza Kashgari.” (So much for Arab liberation by social media.) One commenter wrote, “The only choice is for Kashgari to be killed and crucified in order to be a lesson to other secularists.”

Kashgari backed down, apologized profusely, and continued to be attacked. He went into hiding. Clerics and government officials threatened him with execution for blasphemy. He fled to Malaysia, hoping to continue to fly to New Zealand, where he would ask for asylum. But Malaysian officials, behaving against law and decency, had him detained at the airport and sent back to Saudi Arabia, where he was promptly arrested. Since mid-February there’s been no word of Kashgari. The Saudis have said they will put him on trial. What a pity there’s no First Amendment to protect him.
If only he had more powerful friends—if only Christopher Hitchens were still alive—Hamza Kashgari would be called the Saudi Rushdie. There would be a worldwide campaign to pressure the Saudis into releasing him. The United States would offer him asylum and quietly push our friends the Saudis into letting him go. But we’ve come to expect these things from our friends the Saudis.

We’ve come to expect these things from the Muslim world. We expect Afghans to riot for days and kill Americans and each other because a few NATO soldiers were stupid enough to burn copies of the Koran along with other objects discarded from a prison outside Kabul. Yes, those soldiers were colossally, destructively insensitive. Yes, we should know by now. Yes, the reaction has a lot to do with ten years of war and occupation and civilian deaths and marines urinating on Taliban corpses. Still, can we have a little outrage at the outrage? Can we reaffirm that human lives are more sacred than books? Can we point out that every time something like this happens, there’s a manufactured and whipped-up quality to much of the hysteria, which has its own cold political calculation (not unlike the jihad against secularists by Sean Hannity and other Salafist mouthpieces)?

Saudi Arabia needs an absolute separation of religion and state so that Hamza Kashgari can say things that other people don’t like without having to flee for his life. Afghanistan needs it, too, and so does Pakistan, so that mob violence and political assassination can’t enjoy the encouragement of religious authorities and the tolerance or acquiescence of government officials. And America needs it so that our Presidents’ religious views remain their own private affairs, and Rick Santorum and his party can’t impose dominion of one narrow, sectarian, Bible-based idea of the public good over a vast, pluralist, heterodox, freedom-loving democracy.

Filed under: Democracy, Freedoms, Hate Crime, Islam, Muslims, Mysticism, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sufism, United States, US Commission on International Religious Freedom Tagged: Afghanistan, American Muslims, Baptist, Catholic President, Commonwealth of Virginia, Constitution, First Amendment, Hamza Kashgari, JFK, Kabul, Kennedy Speech, Malaysia, Mitt Romney, New Zealand, Newt Gingrich, Obama Speech, Pakistan, President John F Kennedy, Quaker, Rick Santorum, Saudi Arabia, Unitarian, US Constitution

ISLAMABAD: Hundreds of activists took to the streets on Friday as the protests over desecration of Holy Quran at the Nato military base in Afghanistan spread to Malaysia, Indonesia and India.Holding banners inscribed with several anti-US slogans including ‘Damn You US Army’, and ‘Quran Our Soul, You Burnt Our Soul’, protesters gathered at public places to express their anger at the

Arizona State University

I believe that in every Pakistani student’s life, there comes a time when he or she comes face to face with the prospect of pursuing higher education outside the country. The strength of the desire to do this varies from person to person. Attitudes towards foreign education are often determined by past experiences with the Pakistani educational system, family support, a thirst for a change of atmosphere, stories of people who have studied abroad, financial status and a variety of other individual factors. For me, the bug of studying abroad entered my mind as I became an A level student and kept buzzing until I actually got my visa. In retrospect, having now completed my first year atArizonaStateUniversityas an undergraduate pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering, I realize that I had been given all the reasons and encouragement I needed to make the decision that I made. I also realize only now why my second and final year of A’levels passed by at lightning speed; it was a year of commotion and confusion, but also a time when I had to take matters into my own hands and come to a decision about whether to leavePakistanfor my undergraduate studies. As I recall my year, I can only see random, vivid and vague images of lots of university magazines and websites, SAT questions, long discussions with peers and professors, tuitions, applications, personal statements and similar snapshots of memory that seem to come from the depths of hell itself. And to further add to my horror, was the pressure of doing well in all the six subjects that I had taken up for my A-levels, not to mention having to deal with the multifarious engagements of a teenage life.

A desire for a change of atmosphere coupled with a hunger to be part of a different, and hopefully better, educational system were my motivation during the application process. Also, surveying the current educational system inPakistan, I found that being less than the absolute best student in our country can lead to difficulty. Prestigious universities like LUMS and GIKI have made sure that an average student graduating A levels or FSC does not even think about applying to such “high standard” universities, much have hopes of getting admitted to one. It is depressing to see how such “high class” universities can fall so low in terms of their admission policies to the point that they fail to understand that only academic abilities are not a fair reflection of a student’s potential. What about a brilliant orator? What about a world-class athlete? What about a superb writer? These “top universities” should realize that to have “high standards” also means to give everyone a fair chance and opportunity. They are ignorant of the fact that their own rigid policies are actually the cause of hundreds of high potential students fleeing their own homeland in search for a system that values and understands this potential. It is a shame and it is also one of the major reasons why I decided to study abroad.

From the very beginning, I wanted to pursue my academic career in theUnited Statesbut this did not stop me from applying to universities in Canada, UK, Singapore and Malaysia as a backup. There are a number of reasons why I preferred the States; one in particular was because all three of my uncles had completed their degrees at the University of Utah. Their academic achievements, combined with how the university and the country, in general, had shaped their personalities, was a source of inspiration for me. Upon my extensive research on the web, I discovered that Arizona State University (ASU) was a perfect example of a fast paced and diverse American university on the rise. It was love at first sight. I also found that the weather in Arizona was very similar to that of Lahore; for others this might sound like a poor reason to attend a school, but for me, at least at that time, this was a sign among many other signs that Arizona was the place for me (a cherry on the cake as I would like to call it).

ASU is the largest public research university in the United States. In addition, ASU has been named as the #4 “Up and coming” university in the US and offers over 250 majors to undergraduate students, and more than 100 graduate programs leading to masters and doctoral degrees. Apart from its excellence in academics, the university offers tons of extra curricular activities for students. ASU, the home of the Sun Devils (the name of our sports teams), has beautiful campus buildings and dorms spread across four campuses all over the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. On weekends, there are breathtaking football and basketball matches in ASU’s very own Sun Devil Stadium; these are definitely a treat to watch with friends. Furthermore, with one swipe of your sun card, you can gain access to all kinds of sports facilities including swimming pools, basketball and squash courts, soccer fields, table tennis tables and much more.

There is always something going on at the university and it is literally a hub of all kinds of social, political and academic activities. The main campus is set at the heart of the city of Tempe, which itself is always full of life and comprises of a town lake and the infamous ‘A’ mountain, which is located at its very center. Not very far away, are some beautiful green landscapes for hiking and camping trips; these serve as an excellent refuge for escaping the big city life. Unfortunately, ASU does not offer any kind of financial aid or scholarships to international undergraduate students because it is a state university. However it offers a multitude of on campus jobs priced from 6 to 10 dollars an hour to help support students. Among numerous others, one aspect of ASU that I personally find very attractive is that it provides help and assistance in any and every form to their students to ensure that they can excel. For example, there are math tutor labs where you will find eager-to-help senior students who are waiting for you to raise your hand so that they can assist you. ASU also has a large international student population, which makes the experience of living there as diverse and interesting as can be. The Memorial Union is the social nucleus of ASU, and it is always a forum for heated but interesting debates, musical events and much more. At ASU, I always feel like I’m a part of this huge machinery that is running on knowledge and education  in general. To conclude, ASU is amongst the top emerging research universities in theUSand definitely amongst the best places to be if you want to make the most of your student life.

For prospective students considering ASU, and for those who wish to study abroad in general, I have two major pieces of advice for you. First, keep your options as wide and as open as possible; never resort to a do or die attitude. Second, organize yourself; make a planner or a schedule, set deadlines for yourself and write down all the things you need to do. Remember the five P’s: Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance. As commonplace as these two pieces of advice sound, they form the gist of a successful application and a successful attitude as well. Never channel all your hopes and dreams towards one particular university because at the end of the day it is not the place you go to but what is within you that really drives you to accomplish your aims and ambitions.

“All that spirits desire, spirits attain.”–Khalil Gibran

In conclusion I wish all of you prospective students out there all the luck in the world. I know you may be in somewhat murky waters right know but know that this too shall pass. Just make sure it does not pass without you making the best decision for yourself that is possible. Let your passion guide you.

Arizona State University‘12

Source: Sadiq Ali Rizvi

As the upcoming license auctions draw close, news flows in that global telecom giants are cosnidering to participate in the bidding process. Prospective bidders to enter the Pakistan telecom market were informed to 3G/4G/LTE advisory committee.

As reported by Dawn News, they include:

• AT&T of USA
• British Vodafone
• Japan’s DoComo
• Qtel of Qatar
• Roshan Telecom from Afghanistan

The report further streghtens Warid’s un-fit financial position for the bid. Also, Warid can possibly make a joint bid with some telecom firm from Malaysia. Qubee is also reported to be in talks with current market players for a joint bid.

Complete report from Dawn News follows:

At least nine telecommunication companies including four world majors are likely to participate in bidding due by end-March for third and fourth generation telecom licences in Pakistan, raising hopes for a better foreign exchange yield.

An advisory committee on 3G/4G/LTE led by prime minister’s adviser on finance Abdul Hafeez Shaikh was informed on Thursday that British Vodafone, Japan’s DoComo, AT&T of United States, QTel of Qatar and even Roshan Telecom of Afghanistan were preparing for bidding to be new foreign entrants in the country’s fast growing telecom industry.

The information, based on market intelligence, was put forward by Ministry of Telecommunication and Pakistan
Telecommunication Authority (PTA).

The advisory committee was also informed that among the existing players Ufone, Mobilink and Zong were keen to get the new licences to be available for 15 years. Another player Warid was not in a position to independently vie for the future licence due to financial constraints but was in contact with a leading Malaysian telecom firm for a joint bid, according to market intelligence.

Qbee another firm that currently operates wireless and internet services in Pakistan and Bangladesh was also reported to be making contacts with some market players for a joint bid.

The advisory committee, said these sources, discussed a proposal to appoint consultant or a consortium of consultants to assist the government in transaction structure and bidding process but was informed that this could delay the transaction in view of procurement rules while the government was interested in over $800 million sale proceeds during the current financial year.

The finance ministry was of the view that the government could exercise its right to bypass procurement rules to reduce time for the appointment of consultants because that would help the government to maximise sale proceeds. The committee members remained divided over the issue, Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh said the decision would be made in a couple of days after consultations with the ministry of law.

In the meanwhile, the PTA was directed to enhance its coordination with the major telecom players for wider participation in the bidding process. The committee decided to appoint a media consultant for the transaction. The committee also considered replies to objections raised by cross-party members of the senate over the base price fixed by the PTA for the bidding. It also decided to issue an international advertisement for competitive bidding.

The government plans to auction three 3G and one cellular licence for 1900/2100 MHz (3G/4G/LTE) band and 800 MHz Band. The base price for 3G licence to be effective for 15 years has been set at $210 million while the base price for cellular licence for 8 years has been set at $155 million.

Likewise, the earnest money to qualify for the bidding has been set at $31.5 million for each bidder of 3G and $23.25 million for cellular license. The spectrum capacity allocation has already been fixed for three 3G licences.

The bidders would be required to start their offers from the base price fixed by government with each increment of at least $2 million multiples. The successful bidder would be required to deposit 50 per cent of the auction price within 30 days of the auction and remaining 50 per cent in five equal instalments. The bidder would be allowed to launch its operations on 100 per cent payment of bid money.

The senators had objected to the bid price saying it was too low given the fact that cellular companies had paid $291 million per license in 2004 for 2G services (GSM), now considered an obsolete technology. The advisory committee was, however, told that base price did not mean a sale price that would go up on competitive bidding and reminded the senators that the base price for 2G licenses was set at $61 million that had increased to $291 through bidding.

The meeting was informed that base price for cellular licence was set at $155 million because it was being issued against the remaining 8 years period of the defunct Instaphone instead of other cellular licenses that were for 15 years. Even the bidding result for one GSM license would also go up.

The committee was informed that base price was arrived at after taking into consideration the 2004 auction result of 2G (GSM), expected service revenues, subscriber growth, economic growth, per capita income, political situation and population of the country.

via Dawn News

Latest resort in Janda Baik, Pahang, Malaysia is now available. Elegantly designed in Tudor style by our late father, our family holiday home is located on a 3-acre land in Kampung Chemperoh, Janda Baik. Nestled in the mountain tops, one can experience the cool weather and beautiful natural landscape. Located only 45 minutes away from Kuala Lumpur, it is our family’s small heaven on earth.

The house, which is Tudor in design, was built by our late father in 1999. The house has 6 queen-sized bedrooms, 3 shared bathrooms, 1 single en-suite room with a bunk bed and a large master bedroom, which we have turned into a spa room.

For self-catering requirement, a fully fitted kitchen, dining and lounge areas are provided. For those who prefer to order food, catering services are also available upon request.

Details are at http://www.le-manah-retreat.com.my and at http://le-manah-retreat.blogspot.com

Are we eventually not back to the square one? The ever so familiar situation repeating itself every so often _ the civil military stand off and the government and judiciary finding themselves at loggerheads yet again feeding ample fodder to the insatiable milling machine of media thankfully to sensationalize and spice things up to their liking, churning out conspiracy theories by creating an unnecessary hype at times while acting irresponsibly by neglecting the imperative developments and details at others to mislead ( read to keep informed) the public at large but to keep their business and entertainment (talk) shows going round the clock.

The history is perhaps tired of repeating itself over and over again but we are not. While the cynical circular spectrum of events continue to go round and round statically with no linear development over the six decades, interestingly the question remains who is actually at fault?

Was the judiciary at fault when ZAB riding the crest of a mammoth tide of popularism was hanged? Certainly! Was the judiciary at fault when the over zealous Sultan Muhammad Nawaz Sharif stormed the supreme court overwhelmed by his lust of power? Certainly not! Is the judiciary at fault now when it is taking government to task over a couple of security and political issues? Anybody’s guess!

More? Was the democratically elected  Mr. Nawaz Sharif at fault when he dismissed the then COAS Musharraf or was the military takeover a logical reaction to Sharif’s voracious desire for omnipotence while undermining the freedom of various state institutions?

While it appears deceptively simple to single out Army as the most criminal force and factor in the equation that has arguably rooted out seeds of democratic culture that have been sown time and again but haven’t the democratic institutions failed time and again and caved in owing to their intrinsic weakness, imbalance, disharmony and reckless measures? I am certainly not for khakis to step in or marching boots to trample the constitution at their own free will. There are far too many lessons to learn from the autocratic Islamic revolution led by Hazarat General Muhammad Zia ul Haq and later, in stark contrast, the radiant era of “Renaissance” unleashed by enlightened moderator Mush -  both reminding us of the ages of darkness ironically in one way or the other. But the fact remains that unlike the rest, Military is the only disciplined and organized institution of the state with supposedly far less public dealing and external influence. In all fairness, doesn’t Military get more than its due share of blame for the failure of state or democratic process or institutions? Again, even if for the argument’s sake, Military is the mother of all ills, isn’t failure of a major state institution to understand its due role and to overstep its limits or jurisdiction blatantly time and again be deemed as the failure of democracy or system itself?

If so, this brings us back to the million dollar question, how in the world do the tenets of Western democracy offer the best solution to our typical political, social and economic problems that have failed to grab roots in sixty four years?

If going to the polls with 35 million bogus registered votes every now and then and casting our vote in the favour of the candidate solely on the basis of birardari or “kinship” as Anatol Lieven ( Pakistan a hard country) puts it, earns us the license to be a democratic state, who are we fooling by expecting a change to take place simply by sticking to this ritual? Not to undermine our society, but have we got the literacy, awareness, religious and social freedom and justice, tradition and maturity to inculcate that culture of expression of freedom, tolerance, mutual respect, equal rights for all human beings that constitute the spirit of democracy together?

If not, then why are we obsessed with the secular models of Western democracy that will never work for us or has never gained roots in the sixty four years of the existence of Pakistan as a state?

My dear friends and intellectuals who cannot see beyond the dazzling virtues of democracy and exist as if only to keep on harping about it, let us be honest and analyze is democracy the only system that has brought about change coupled with social and economic uplift round the globe or region? We may snub China for poor human rights standings but what has brought about that magnificent rise in its economic power and splendour? Democracy? Why forget the real Asian tigers, Singapore? While the state has remained a kingdom with no natural resources of its own (even the drinking water is to be imported from the neighbouring Malaysia), who can deny the remarkable turn around in its stature and economic fate that has earned it the informal title of the ‘Most orderly state” in the world just in a few decades?

Call it our mindset but name a single mainstream political party that has nurtured democratic culture within its rank and file. Does passing the leadership on to the next generation or the members of the family like personal fiefdom or heritage not negate the spirit of the democracy itself? Or is it perfectly cool to build on a monarchy of  Sharifs, Bhuttos, Zardaris while harping about democratic traditions and process?

To cut it short, there may well be countless virtues to democracy. It may still be the best form of governance. But what good is it if it does not deliver, instead dis-enfranchising the masses to the point where the state is brought to the brink of its existential threat?

To me, democracy is after all a means or mode to deliver!

Are we eventually not back to the square one? The ever so familiar situation repeating itself every so often _ the civil military stand off and the government and judiciary finding themselves at loggerheads yet again feeding ample fodder to the insatiable milling machine of media thankfully to sensationalize and spice things up to their liking, churning out conspiracy theories by creating an unnecessary hype at times while acting irresponsibly by neglecting the imperative developments and details at others to mislead ( read to keep informed) the public at large but to keep their business and entertainment (talk) shows going round the clock. 

The history is perhaps tired of repeating itself over and over again but we are not. While the cynical circular spectrum of events continue to go round and round statically with no linear development over the six decades, interestingly the question remains who is actually at fault? 

Was the judiciary at fault when ZAB riding the crest of a mammoth tide of popularism was hanged? Certainly! Was the judiciary at fault when the over zealous Sultan Muhammad Nawaz Sharif stormed the supreme court overwhelmed by his lust of power? Certainly not! Is the judiciary at fault now when it is taking government to task over a couple of security and political issues? Anybody’s guess! 

More? Was it democratically elected Nawaz Sharif at fault when he dismissed the then COAS Musharraf or was the military takeover a logical reaction to Sharif’s voracious desire for omnipotence while undermining the freedom of various state institutions? 

While it appears deceptively simple to single out Army as the most criminal force and factor in the equation that has arguably rooted out seeds of democratic culture that have been sown time and again but haven’t the democratic institutions failed time and again and caved in owing to their intrinsic weakness, imbalance, disharmony and reckless measures? I am certainly not for khakis to step in or marching boots to trample the constitution at their own free will. There are far too many lessons to learn from the autocratic Islamic revolution led by Hazarat General Muhammad Zia ul Haq and later, in stark contrast, the radiant era of “Renaissance” unleashed by enlightened moderator Mush__ both reminding us of the ages of darkness ironically in one way or the other. But the fact remains that unlike the rest, Military is the only disciplined and organized institution of the state with supposedly far less public dealing and external influence. In all fairness, doesn’t Military get more than its due share of blame for the failure of state or democratic process or institutions? Again, even if for the argument’s sake, Military is the mother of all ills, isn’t failure of a major state institution to understand its due role and to overstep its limits or jurisdiction blatantly time and again be deemed as the failure of democracy or system itself? 

If so, this brings us back to the million dollar question, how in the world do the tenets of western democracy offer the best solution to our typical political, social and economic problems that have failed to grab roots in sixty four years?

 If going to the polls with 35 million bogus registered votes every now and then and casting our vote in the favour of the candidate solely on the basis of birardari or “kinship” as Anatol Lieven ( Pakistan a hard country) puts it earns us the licence to be a democratic state, who are we fooling by expecting a change to take place simply by sticking to this ritual? Not to undermine our society, but have we got the literacy, awareness, religious and social freedom and justice, tradition and maturity to inculcate that culture of expression of freedom, tolerance, mutual respect, equal rights for all human beings that constitute the spirit of democracy together?   

If not, then why are we obsessed with the secular models of western democracy that will never work for us or has never gained roots in the sixty four years of the existence ofPakistanas a state? 

My dear friends and intellectuals who cannot see beyond the dazzling virtues of democracy and exist as if only to keep on harping about it, let us be honest and analyze is democracy the only system that has brought about change coupled with social and economic upliftment round the globe or region? We may snub China for poor human rights standings but what has brought about that magnificent rise in its economic power and splendour? Democracy? Why forget the Asian tigersSingapore? While the state has remained a kingdom with no natural resources of its own (even the drinking water is to be imported from the neighbouring Malaysia), who can deny the remarkable turn around in its stature and economic fate that has earned it the informal title of the ‘Most orderly state” in the world just in a few decades? 

Call it our mindset but name a single mainstream political party that has nurtured democratic culture within its rank and file. Does passing the leadership on to the next generation or the memebers of the family like personal fiefdom or heritage does not negate the spirit of the democracy itself? Or is it perfectly cool to build on a monarchy of  Sharifs, Bhuttos, Zardaris & Madaris while harping about democratic traditions and process?

To cut it short, there may well be countless virtues and democracy may still be the best form of governance but what good is it if it does not deliver but rather dis-enfranchise the masses to the point where the state is brought to the brink of its existential threat?

To me, democracy is after all a means or mode to deliver! 

Photo Credit: Reuters

A Malaysian judge has ruled today that fiery opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is not guilty of sodomy charges brought forth by a former male aide. The verdict opens up the possibility for Ibrahim to stand in the next general election and challenge the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) party which has held political power in the country for the past five decades.

The ruling from the presiding High Court judge, Mohamad Zabidin Diah, was rather unexpected, and Ibrahim stated that he was “pleasantly shocked” by the verdict. This was not the first time Ibrahim has faced allegations of sexual misconduct. In 1998, he was convicted of a similar charge and spent six years in prison before the ruling was overturned. One year prior, Ibrahim was the Deputy Prime Minister and looked poised to be the next leader of the country. However, after campaigning on an anti-corruption platform, he was sacked by then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Ibrahim has consistently maintained that the subsequent sodomy charges levied against him were politically motivated.

After emerging from prison, Ibrahim put together a coalition of three opposition groups in the 2008 elections and scored the biggest political victory against BN in Malaysia’s democratic history. The BN lost five out of the nation’s sixteen states and also lost its traditional two thirds majority in Parliament. Not long after the elections, new charges appeared against Ibrahim, this time from his former male aide, Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

Exiting the courthouse today surrounded by his supporters, Ibrahim now seems poised to mount the strongest challenge yet to BN’s longtime control of Malaysia; the next elections are scheduled to be held no later than 2013. Ibrahim’s message is one of populism: in the wake of the Arab Spring and other myriad occupy movements across the globe this past year, Ibrahim is seen as the reformist candidate who has pledged to rollback several harsh laws which have served to curtail many political and civil rights within Malaysia. Moreover, he is seen as the voice of the country’s various ethnic minorities — such as Han Chinese and Indian — who have long been left out of the political process.