Archive for the ‘Pakistan’ Category
Faisal Shahzad’s Impact on Policies and Perceptions
Much has been written about the impact of Faisal Shahzad’s failed attack in New York City’s Times Square. Most Indians thought that Faisal’s links to Pakistan would increase U.S. pressure on the ‘epicenter of terrorism’, thereby validating India’s perspective. It was hoped that Faisal would help India to get where Kasab and David Headley could not: terrorist groups within Pakistan which act as auxiliary units for the Al-Qeada against the U.S. and India. Indian media is replete with quotations like “U.S. warns Pakistan of severe consequences.” However there is little evidence to show that the nature of U.S.-Pakistan Partnership will change much in the coming days. Views of Bruce Riedel and General Petraeus also validate this contention. Click to continue…
Discussion on New Social Media at Kaboo Community Radio
A tourist visa to Pakistan costs Rs.15 (33 cents) and the distance between Amritsar and Lahore is 48 km (29.8 miles) but few Indians have ever visited Pakistan. The movement of Indian journalists in Pakistan is restricted to Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. Interactions between India and Pakistan are largely confined to the realm of diplomacy, politics and military strategy. The celebrated civil society dialogue between Indians and Pakistanis is limited to social elites from the two sides.
Interactions between the common people of India and Pakistan are challenged by several obstacles. Lack of air connections, absence of road and rail links, endless harassing over visa issues, heightening of political tensions, censorship of movies and blackout of news channels are the commonly encountered hurdles. For young educated Indians and Pakistanis, communication across the Line of Control (LOC) has been more difficult than contact with counterparts in other continents. Media reports, memoirs and ancestral stories have been the only way for gathering information about life across the LOC.
The medium of electronic communication is allowing Indians and Pakistanis a rare opportunity to conduct genuine and open dialogue. Blessed to be born at a time when the web rules the world, a large segment of middle class Indians and Pakistanis can talk to each other. Exchange of e-mails, expression of views through blogs, participation in on-line discussion forums, and sharing of information through social networking sites provides myriad avenues for Indians and Pakistanis to communicate. They can instantaneously discuss about the Marriott attacks in Islamabad or the Mumbai terror siege; comment on U.S. strategy in Af-Pak or implications of the Kerry-Lugar Bill, send live updates of lawyer’s protest march in Karachi or voice concern over the ban on Jaswant Singh’s book praising Jinnah in India. Flow of information across the border is now direct, instant and constant. This new form of popular interaction, referred to as social media, between Indians and Pakistanis is re-defining the contours of inter-state civil society dialogue.
APA Compass on Kaboo Community Radio invited me to speak on how electronic communication, especially New Social Media, was impacting interactions between Indians and Pakistanis. The podcast to the program can be accessed here.
Pakistan and U.S. Move from ‘Relationship’ to ‘Partnership’
“Today, I am a happy man and a satisfied man,” Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in a news conference with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Secretary Clinton’s remarks at the same conference “We have listened, and we will continue to listen.”
This is what Pakistan is celebrating as a movement from relationship to partnership. Semantics in diplomacy can be a great face safer and Minister Qureshi seems to realize this fact.
[Picture Courtesy: Jim Young/Reuters]
Attempts at moral policing in Pakistan
I am compelled to share an excerpt from a post by Murtaza Ali Jafri on the Dawn Blog today. I was unable to discern my reaction after reading it: is it funny or pathetic?
Last month, the Punjab Assembly resolved to ban all late-night call packages offered by mobile telecommunications companies in the province. During vigorous assembly debates, it was concluded that the ability to make cheap, late-night phone calls was having a negative impact on this country’s bright young things. Forget terrorism, the energy crisis, a weakened government, and water shortages – apparently boys and girls texting and calling each other past their bed time has become a matter of national concern.
Hence the assembly resolution demanding that mobile companies stop promoting “cheap rate, late night packages that alter societal tendencies.” Luckily for us nocturnal phone addicts, the powers that be haven’t yet discovered the prevalence of instant messenger or the internet.
I hate to be the harbinger of bad news, but cheap mobile packages don’t corrupt the youth, society corrupts the youth. After all, the previous generation grew up without mobile phones, the internet, cable television, and Gossip Girl, and they’ve hardly turned out to be bastions of virtue.
Does the Government of Pakistan ever fail to surprise us? Only if they could ban all guns given the fact that so many young Pakistanis were being lured by terrorist groups.
Some Different Claims from Pakistan
Criticism for Pakistani politicians, state of military-civilian relations and covert support to terrorism comes easy for anyone. There is so much to complain about Pakistan that very rarely does anything positive gets to the attention of the outside world. In one such rare instance, the Foreign Affairs, January-February 2010, carried a section on Pakistan Regained. Though some of the political claims carried in this sponsored section can be contested, the eight page attempt at PR throws light on some unnoticed facts about the crisis-ridden country.
[Karachi Port Trust Towers]
Who Got Those Drones for Pakistan?
What was reported as a snub by the Pakistan military for the U.S. strategy in the region was in fact a simple act of bargaining.
Pakistan Army spokesman Athar Abbas told the BBC the “overstretched” military had no plans for any fresh anti-militant operations over the next 12 months. He added that “The Pakistan army is overstretched and it is not in a position to open any new fronts. Obviously, we will continue our present operations in Waziristan and Swat.” The announcement was made during the visit of U.S. Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates to the region. And many interpreted this as an embarrassment for the Obama Administration. Click to continue…
President Zardari: A Zealous Entertainer
Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari has in a recent article in the Washington Post claimed that his Government shall not turn back from reforming the situation in Pakistan. President Zardari’s self-delusion appears more menacing than the threat of terrorism. I was more amused than surprised to read President Zardari’s tall claims.
The opening lines of the article set the tone for what follows:
“When I was elected President more than a year ago, Pakistan was in grave condition, strained by terrorism and a ravaged economy.”
President Zardari seems to believe that Pakistan is no longer in a grave condition and economy has improved. He refers to the threat of terrorism with a sense of nostalgia. Click to continue…
NRO: Serving Institutions or Individuals?
The Pakistani conundrum continued with the recent Supreme Court decision declaring the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) null and void. Under the ordinance, issued by former President Pervez Musharraf on October 5, 2007, cases of corruption against public office-holders could be withdrawn and no public office-holder could be arrested in future in corruption cases. Powers of the chairman National Accountability Bureau were also circumscribed. In more specific terms the federal and provincial governments were empowered to withdraw from the prosecution of any person, including an absconding accused who is found to be falsely involved for political reasons or through political victimization in any case initiated between January 1, 1986 to October 12, 1999. The ordinance was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on December 16, 2009. Though the constitutional invalidity of the ordinance was obvious, its wider impact has created much confusion. Interpretations of benefits emanating from the NRO are distorted and depend on the political disposition of the observer. Few conspicuous dimensions have evaded attention.
First and foremost, the view that President Asif Ali Zardari benefitted most from the NRO is only partially correct. Zardari was not the primary architect of the NRO; no one, including Zardari himself, could have apprehended the political prize he grabbed as a consequence of NRO. The ordinance was most clearly part of a deal to give a new lease of life to the vacillating political careers of President Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto. Most of the current analysis gives an impression that NRO was the outcome of active campaign by Zardari for the sake of grabbing the Presidency. Zardari, no doubt, was expected to make considerable gains from the NRO, but that was to be an auxiliary rather than primary outcome of the NRO. Click to continue…
New Social Media and Socio-Political Movements in Pakistan
Pakistan has turned from a challenge into a mystery. Apart from aid donors, drones and special envoys, a constant stream of foreign correspondents are pouring into Pakistan. From Nicholas Schmidle to Sharmeen Obaid, reporters, scholars, observers and documentary makers are visiting Pakistan in an attempt to unravel the mystery. Media reports and expert analysis on Pakistan have painted a rather grim picture of the state of affairs in the country. From the growing threat of Taliban to concerns about safety of nuclear weapons, from the weak political leadership to deep social schisms, Pakistan appears to be immersing into deeper crisis.
However, the media glare and emphasis on the obvious has ignored a remarkable element of Pakistani society: resilience of the Pakistanis. In the midst of negative attention, one encouraging development in Pakistan has been overlooked. This refers to a growing number of public protests in Pakistan along with the increasing use of social media tools for mobilizing the people. Most of these protests may not be part of the solution but nevertheless amplify the voice of the Pakistani civil society.
[Picture courtesy: GlobalVoices Online]
Pakistan’s Search for Sweetness
Criticizing Pakistan is the simplest task in contemporary international affairs. When many across the world have given up hope on Pakistan, the people of Pakistan are resolutely fighting their battles. These battles relate to more basic challenges than capturing Osama bin Laden and celebrating the death of Baitullah Mehsud; it’s about accessing the essentials of life. In the midst of a bitter crisis, the people of Pakistan are getting together to add some sweetness to their lives….sweetness in the literal sense.
As a protest against the steep rise in sugar prices due to hoarding by local merchants, the Pakistanis are being encouraged to boycott purchase of sugar from November 5th to November 12. Whether or not this move makes any tangible difference, it will demonstrate the resolve of the common Pakistanis in times of national crisis. Dr. Awab Alvi, who blogs at Teeth Maestro has uploaded this public appeal for boycotting sugar.