The Media of Minority

Media portrayal of minorities, how media presents actions, aspirations, and problems of minorities in a particular country had been a highly sought after subject of research throughout the world for many decades. Most of the researches on media and minority reveal that media does not represent minorities positively and they are often negatively stereotyped , causing exploitation of their rights. Some researchers proved that minorities had been presented as criminals, thugs and rebels.

In Pakistan situation is contrary to the world, here minority is victimizing and exploiting the majority. Pakistani media especially the electronic media is now the most feared institution of country often termed as the thanedar or prosecutor. Here a minority has hijacked this powerful institution. This minority is totally alien to our masses, they don’t know the norms and values of our society, they do not respect the privacy of common man, they do not even believe in the basic rights of the poor people of Pakistan. They believe in only one thing how to get a better rating of their program, a better cost of their show; no matter how embarrassing is it? Mostly these people belong to upper classes or influential backgrounds, often to a specific ethnic minority. Most of these anchors and hosts have no proper training or education and have no or very limited prior exposure and experience of media. They are intentionally or unintentionally victimizing the majority of Pakistan.

While I was writing these lines I watched a headline on a channel “Meri Izzat pe haath kyun dala, Bhabhi ne dewar ko mar dala”. This small news item tells us that how they bluntly declare anyone as culprit without taking into consideration the drastic repercussions for others attached to him/her. They intentionally harass, exploit and disgrace us and make us think the way they want us to. The worst case of media victimization in past was the Lal Masjid tragedy, most of the media channels and newspapers pressurized the sitting government to kill the thousands of student and just when the government started the operation media changed its previous stance and started opposing it.

The other tragic incident was the killing of Salman Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti, media was the main source of inciting people by airing programs on blasphemy issue thus resulting in these killing. Some channels quoted him saying blasphemy as black law but no one ever managed to produce the proof. A woman anchor went to such an extent that she openly prosecuted Salman Taseer in her show and declared him as the sinner, later she was sacked but she is selling the same manjan on another channel.

Another example of media victimization was the news and analysis on flogging of a girl by Taliban in Swat. It was a hot issue for many days giving our media a lot of fun and they enjoyed it by portraying the majority as the people who loves to see young girls openly disgraced and flogged. Later it was revealed that it was a fake video made by an NGO to support the operation rah-e-rast.

Recently a female anchor of a channel crossed all boundaries of ethics and law and chased people in parks investigating them; international media coined the term moral policing for this. The channel had no one with a brain to decide what havoc would that program bring in the lives of those young couples and their families? It’s good to see public reaction on that stupid show which proved that we are not a radical or conservative society as portrayed by our media.

Since early 2000’s, Pakistani television has evolved rapidly and exploded from a single state owned television to more than 80 private owned channels now. Facing stiff competition from other channels hosts always rely on populist measure. The morning shows exploiting the privacy of people often disgracing them; the political drama shows, dramatized crime shows and self defined investigative shows are some examples how media people try to increase their ratings. No doubt electronic media has totally transformed our society since the start of 2000 decade; they have made some very positive changes in common man’s life. But on the other hand they have given them the self defined right to play with the lives of people by exploiting house hold issues and family matters. They have misused their power more than often on issues of national interest.

With increasing instances of media exploitation of public rights, it is now a need of time to press for media consumer rights movement. We need to regulate our media, although we have a regulatory body like PEMRA to have a check on media but unfortunately it is totally government driven authority. If we gave the right of regulating the media to government it would cast us the freedom of speech. Media giants should themselves chalk a code of ethics and conduct for them to avoid the incidents of harassing people and declaring them as culprits. Internationally the media laws are very effective and strong and their media abide by them. Here in Pakistan we also have some media laws and PEMRA ordinance which to some extent prevent electronic media from jeopardizing the social values and public rights. The need is to create enough awareness among public that they can defend themselves against any exploitation. If we did not pay heed then we they will get into our bedrooms and would ask “Do you have the nikahnama”?

Imran Khan in the wonderland

Pakistan was facing the early exit from world cup 1992 after being bowled out for 74 against England, when God answered the prays and rain came to rescue them. After sharing the points with England and winning 3 of their remaining 4 matches, nation was again praying for Australian victory against West Indies. Again God responded and Pakistan progressed to semi final and won the highest sporting event, the World Cup for the first time in history.

 At the final presentation ceremony captain Imran Khan spoke his mind in these words,

"  I want to give my commiserations to the English team but I want them to know that my winning this world cup, personally it means that one of my greatest obsessions in life which is to build a cancer hospital, I am sure that this world cup will go a long way towards completion of this obsession, I would also like to say that I feel very proud that at the twilight of my career finally I managed to win the world cup" 

No doubt, Imran Khan was the man who united a team, lifted their spirits and led them to achieve that feat. But it is a reality that despite of his brave effort with the bat, his personal performance in the world cup was poor. On the other hand Wasim Akram was man of the match in final, Mushtaq and Aquib were brilliant, Javed Miandad and Inzamam were the outstanding performers, and Rameez, Sohail and Moin made crucial contribution. But the leader, Imran Khan forgot all of them and even forgot to thank almighty who helped them all the way. For the annoyance of mates he did not forget to tell the world that he was building a cancer hospital, and WC win would help him. Some players allege that he donated all money and prizes which were given to them on WC win, to his cancer hospital and deprived his team mates of their share.

His speech after winning final itself speaks a lot about ideas, attitude and approach of great Imran Khan. People who know him would know about his tussle with other players, the most disgusting of which was his disagreement with Miandad. For some it was a rivalry between Lahore and Karachi as both represented two separate ethnic entities. Yet when Miandad joined Imran Khan in the 92 final on 24/2 both put aside the differences and built 139 runs partnership without taking in perspective, who will be benefited most with the win.  

Imran Khan is arguably the most famous cricketer of Pakistan. He is to cricket as Waheed Murad was to film industry, both are highly respected and loved by people especially the youth. Media gives him extra-ordinary coverage wherever he goes. Ironically, he decided to join the dirty pool of politics in Pakistan and overwhelmed by the desire of making him more popular created a political party.

On the political front his position had been miserable and unexplainable. In his early days he joined hand with Political Maulana’s and raised the slogan of death for USA.  In 2002 elections he managed to win only one seat throughout Pakistan. Then under the influence of Maulana’s Brigade and non-political actors he boycotted the 2008 elections where he could have done some goods for Pakistan if he had wanted.He also fought some personal battles with Altaf Hussain, Asif Zardari and Sharif brothers before taking a u-turn.

Recently his public rallies have attracted millions of people, and suddenly he has been seen as a next big thing in Pakistani politics. Realizing the opportunity many Mir Jaffers of Pakistani politics joined hands with him and made him proud. His team members, who supported and followed him during the struggling times, are one by one leaving him and they are replaced by these feudal. For me it was the picture of the century, Imran Khan sitting on the stage with two arch-rival Hashmi and Qureshi on either side.


His political strategy is as poor as his decisions; it always makes me smile when in TV appearances while answering the questions about his manifesto, he always quotes the example of Cancer Hospital and Namal University, as if he thinks running a country is as simple as running a hospital.

No doubt he is a hero for our younger generation, and people love to see him, hear him making all those idealistic claims, he is making these days. It may be good for a nation who dreams with open eyes, who are obsessed with the slogans of revolution and promises of change. But in reality Imran Khan is the wrong person to attach our hopes with.People should realize that Ruling a country is not as simple as marshaling a team to victory, or running a hospital or a university. A man who is such a self-centered and egoistic, who believes in "Me" instead of 'US", who represents a certain class instead of masses, who is an idealist, who changes his goalposts every fortnight, may be a charismatic hero but not a savior.

Mujhe chhor de mere haal par tera kya bharosa hai charagar

Teri yeh nawazish e mushtasir mera dard aur barha na de

The King of Kings: Colonel Muammar Gaddafi

Hanging of Saddam Hussain on the day of Eid ul Azha was a sad scene to watch on TV for most of the Muslims, but the killing and disgrace of the dead body of Colonel Gaddafi by rebels was far more disturbing. Whatever happened is a sad episode carrying a lesson for the rulers who rob the wealth of their people for centuries and consider themselves as the owners of their people's lives and fate.

Colonel Muammar Gaddfi became the master of Libyan people's destiny through a military coup in 1969 by throwing out the King Idris.The era in which Gaddafi took over was an era of dissent, hopelessness and disappointment for most of the oil rich Muslim countries in Arab as whole Arab were not able to defeat Israel. Arabs and African Muslims welcomed the leaders who raised the slogans against USA, Britain or Israel; Muammar Gaddafi was one of them. He received overwhelming support from people in Africa; therefore he assumed himself as the leader of whole Africa and started a campaign against each and every small country in his neighborhood which did not comply with his leadership. I recall a quote from some great personality "Authority does not make us cruel but exposes our cruelty" the same was the case of Gaddafi. In quest of king of kings title he started a brutal war with every one whom he considered as an enemy, attacked neighboring countries, killed opponents and banned any opposition in country.

Libya has a very large area with a relatively small population of nearly 6.6 million (a mere 150% of Azad Kashmir's population), population density is 50 person per Sq KM; its oil reserves are largest in Africa and 9th largest in the world. Moreover it is a beautiful country situated on the bank of Mediterranean sea attracting millions of tourists yearly boosting the economy to a good extent but Gaddafi's rule almost shut the doors for tourists. Having so much treasure, if it had been ruled and managed properly by a sincere leader then Libya would have been a leader of the world’s economy and its people would have been enjoying the highest life standards, but it’s an irony that in enmity of USA and Israel Muslims always supported wrong rulers and faced more humiliation. People will blame US and allies as always for all the ills faced by Libyans and other Muslims throughout the world, but it is the time to accept that our own people are more responsible for our miseries.

Gaddafi and Pakistan

I don’t know how many people in Libya would know about Pakistan or its leaders but in Pakistan there is a lot of debate on Gaddafi after his killing. On facebook, twitter, blogs and some newspapers people are trying their best to portray him as a hero and true leader of Muslims. Many people argue that he was a great supporter of Pakistan and gave the money required for our nuclear program. It is strange that we never let our poor dictators to rule for more than 12 years but still we enjoy the luxury of supporting the dictator who was thrown out of power by his people after 42 years.

Colonel Gaddafi might have supported Pakistan when Bhutto was a ruler as he had personal relations with Bhutto, he also visited Pakistan in 1974 and we named a stadium for his honor. During those days he was planning to acquire latest available weapons, for this he had some expensive deals. From Pakistan he was expecting a nuclear weapon as he knew that Bhutto was planning one. Unfortunately Bhutto was arrested and killed by Zia's operation fair play in 1979 and his plan failed. The same year Soviet's invasion of Afghanistan made Zia a darling for USA and a villain for Gaddafi. According to some sources he actively supported Al-Zulfiqar against Zia, latter he enjoyed good relations with Benazir Bhutto's governments.

I wonder what would have been the condition of Pakistan if Gaddafi had ruled it for 42 years with all his female bodyguards? a thought for Gaddafi lovers.

Who Ruined The Quaid's Dream (1977-1979)

Ziaul Haq, Who Was He?

Before taking over as Army Chief General Zia Ul Haq had been famous for leading a Jordanian Army Division during operation black September against Palestinian fighters and being involved in killing of over 10,000 (official numbers) Palestinians living in camps in Jordan. It was interesting to note that Jordan’s military was a powerful force but they choose Zia ul Haq to spearhead the operation known as black September by Arabs. It is an open secret that King Hussian was a puppet of USA and He was more loyal to USA than Arabs, therefore most the Jordanians did not like him; instead there was abundant support and sympathy for Palestine Liberation Organization which was fighting against Israel. As a result, when PLO started attacking Israel from Jordanian Camps, they gained overwhelming support from Jordanians; King Hussain backed by USA decided to suppress PLO. Most of the Jordanian commanders denied fighting against the PLO and Palestinians, so King Hussain asked Pakistani government to help them and Major Zia ul Haq was sent to help them in operation. Zia led the Jordanian military in a series of operations known as black September, as a result thousands of Palestinians were killed and PLO was crushed. Later Zia ul Haq was awarded the highest Military rank of Jordan for his services in pushing Palestinians out of Jordan.

July 1977 Coup:

Bhutto’s autocratic rule enraged his rival politicians; in 1977 elections Bhutto’s government did record rigging as a result violent agitation started after elections. In July 1977 amid unrest and agitation on pretext of restoring law and order, Zia Ul Haq dismissed Bhutto and imposed martial law on July 5, 1977. He addresses the nation and promised to hold free and fair elections in 90 days. Nusrat Bhutto, wife of deposed Prime Minister filed a case in Supreme court challenging the legitimacy of July 77 coup, supreme court for the second time validated the doctrine of necessity and ruled that given the unstable political condition of country the coup was legal. Contrary to Ayyub Khan, who fooled the nations with a slogan of development, ending up breaking Pakistan into two. Ziaul Haq took hold of pulses of nation by raising slogan of Islamic revolution. The masses who had so much affection for Islam were behind a military dictator again.

Hanging Of Bhutto 1979:

Instead of holding elections ex Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was arrested on September 17, 1977 under martial law orders on charges of ordering the murder of Nawab Mohammad Ahmed Khan. The trial was started at Lahore High Court against the law depriving Bhutto of a chance of appeal. Most of witnesses were under imprisonment from most of the time after Zia’s coup so there impartiality was impossible; to prove that one of the alleged assassins (approvers) retracted from his initial testimony and declared before court that the testimony was extract from him under torture and threat. Bhutto was awarded death punishment by Lahore High Court on 18th March 1978. Bhutto filed an appeal in Supreme Court; Initially 5 out of 9 judges were in favor of Bhutto but Chief Justice Supreme Court justice Anwarul Haq (who presided as acting president under Zia once) delayed the trial till Jul as one of the pro Bhutto judges was to retire in July. Supreme Court of Pakistan withheld the decision of lower court with a clear divide of 4-3. Amid protests and appeals from world leaders, Zia overturned the clemency appeals from all over the world, and Bhutto was hanged on April 4, 1979. It is believed that Zia was not in favor of any trial against Bhutto in the beginning but when Bhutto visited Lahore after dismissal, the reception he received from people was terrifying for Zia, so he did not hold the election due to fears of of PPP wining the elections. Zia was such a coward that he did everything to win the case against the Bhutto. Brisk transfers were made, chief justice was changed, and judges having bias against Bhutto were included in bench hearing his case. Maulvi Mushtaq (a Bhutto hater) the chief justice of LHC once rejected the post of Supreme Court just to take revenge from Bhutto, people who know Maulvi Mushtaq would know very well about the punishment he received from God. The judges who were in favor of fair trial were made to retire, some were sent on long leaves and the Judges who had personal grudge with Bhutto or personal relations with Zia were appointed for the trial. The decision of hanging Bhutto marked the darkest period of our judicial history.

The Politics of Divide and Ethnicity:

Before raising the slogan of Islam, Zia introduced the politics of Divide and ethnicity to tackle the influence of Bhutto in Pakistani politics. In Punjab Zia introduced an industrialist Nawaz Sharif and in Sindh he helped Muhajirs setting their first political party. Nawaz Sharif raised the slogan of Jaag Punjabi Jaag, while Muhajirs had Jiye Muhajir as their political slogan. Moreover Zia also helped nationalists in Sindh to build their political stature. These all actions were a clear indication of the mindset of a coward army general, who was so fearful of the political influence of a man who had been hanged but not killed. This mindset can still be traced in our establishment and military leadership which never let evolve any political culture in country. Coming back to politics of divide our agencies and military under Zia openly supported this agenda by giving the politicians funds and lands. In Punjab Nawaz Sharif and in Sindh Altaf Hussain did it very successfully blocking way for PPP but giving rise to a divide on ethnic and lingual basis. The evils of ethnicity and divide we are facing is a legacy of Hazrat Ziaul Haq.

Who Ruined The Quaid's Dream (1966-1977)

Mujeeb’s Six Points (1966)

On 6th February 1966, Awami League presented their famous six points agenda which stirred a great divide between the West and East Pakistan. Through this agenda Mujeeb demanded separate currency, dedicated foreign exchange account, separate militia and power of taxation and revenue. Six points program was the base from where Bengalis started the struggle for their independence. Bengalis were deprived of their legitimate economic and social rights, thus Mujeeb’s demand for greater autonomy under the six points program received overwhelming support and the denial of Federation to accept these greatly supported their resolve.

Agartala Conspiracy Case (1968)

Government was under pressure from the protests and demonstrations by over 60% of the population as there was little public support with the military rulers even in West Pakistan. In those critical circumstances in 1968, GOP filed a conspiracy case against 35 prominent leaders, servicemen and security officials of East Pakistan for secretly organizing an armed revolt against the government of Pakistan. Bengalis took it as another attempt to push them to wall, therefore a mass protest campaign started against the Government. Adding fuel to fire one of the accused was shot dead by security personnel during confinement inside the army cantonment. The news of the killing led to the violent agitations, protesters put many important state buildings on fire. Although the conspiracy was real but the case was poorly handled by then military government. To much of the surprise, after fueling worst violent and turmoil, government of Pakistan withdrew the Agartala Conspiracy Case on 22 February 1969. The very next day Sheikh Mujeeb Ur Rehman vowed to struggle for independent Bangladesh in a great public gathering in Dhaka.

Yahya Khan The New King (1969)

Ayub Khan was responsible for most of the miseries Pakistan faced during his era; he banned political parties, gauged media and deprived the common man of the legitimate rights. After serving Pakistan in every field he made his worst decision of making a mockery of his own constitution and handing over the powers to a drunken old man Yahya Khan (who is also known as Rangeela Badshah). Yahya Khan inherited the legacy of dissent, revolt and exploitation; he had to transform a country which had been under one man rule for the last 11 years to a democratic country. After a military rule of 12 years general elections were held in December 1970, Awami League of Sheikh Mujeeb Ur Rehman swept the East Pakistan with 160 seats while PPP led by Bhutto got 81 seats in West Pakistan. In provincial elections Awami League won 288 seats and PPP got 144 seats. The elections drew a distinct line between East and West Pakistan, as PPP and Awami League failed to win a single seat in East and West Pakistan respectively (both provincial and national elections). After securing big victory in elections Mujeeb ur Rehman’s Awami League was the only contender to form federal government. But both military and politicians from West Pakistan were suspicious about Mujeeb, they did not want to hand over the control of the country to a politician, who had earlier been held for conspiring against state. Bhutto was in the airspace of East Pakistan returning back after the talks with Mujeeb when army started operation, the end result of which was establishment of Bangladesh. It is widely believed that Bhutto and Mujeeb had come to a settlement of power sharing but Military establishment did not agree. The operation resulted in East Pakistan war, India learning a lesson from operation giberalter infiltrated trained Bengali and Indian guerlillas with the anme Mukti Bahni. The war resulted in over 30,000 deaths (officially) international media believed that they were more tham 500,000. Paksitani Army surrendered and suffered heart breaking humiliation in a land which was their's some time ago.

Bhutto The Dictator (1971-1977)

Bhutto was a charismatic personality; he held the pulses of poor people of Pakistan. Soon after taking control of a divided Pakistan he promised to make a new Pakistan from the remains of broken one. During hsi regime Bhutto made many fatal mistakes; the first one of them was the nationalization policy through which industries and institution were put under government's control. On pretext of nationalization supporters of PPP occupied the precious industries by force, thus destroying the economic backbone, shutting the doors for private investment. At political front ironically Bhutto became a dictator he ordered revenge from those who opposed him, suspended thousands of civil servants and established a ghunda force called Federal Security Force (FSF) to control his opponents. Later he was hanged on the charges of ordering the murder of a political rival through FSF, Director General FSF Masood Mahmood became the approver in this case. Bhutto tried to find his friends in military forces by appointing General Zia as chief of army staff superseding 7 senior generals. He held the general elections in 1977 after opposition started an anti Bhutto movement under the banner of PNA. 1977 elections were heavily rigged and manipulated; therefore the movement of PNA intensified and resulted in the ouster and later hanging of Bhutto.

Hamood Ur Rehman Commission Report (1974)

After the fall of Dhaka Bhutto constituted a commission under the supervision of chief justice Supreme Court Hamood ur Rehman to investigate the reasons of East Pakistan fall and surrender of army without the orders of central command. Commission worked hard and submitted final report in 1974. Report examined the situation in detail and recommended the public trial of many senior army generals including Yaha Khan. Bhutto did not want to make army an opponent therefore he did not made the report public, hence no one was punished for breaking the country. It remained under cover until August 2000, when an Indian Newspaper India Today published the report (No one ever bothered to find out how the top secret document reached India). An army which was created to protect the boundaries of Pakistan was criminally involved in anti-human acts in East Pakistan including killings, rapes, smuggling and torture. If Bhutto had shown the courage and punished the responsibles, he might not be murdered judicially. The unpunished generals never regretted their crimes and in less than 7 years of East Pakistan debacle they were back to fulfill remaining task.

Balochistan Operation (1973-77)

Balochis common man is as exploited as the Bengalis were in 1970, when Bengalis got independence, Baloch nationalists took is as an opportunity to get independence from federation. The insurgency grew stronger in Bhutto regime as NAP has formed the government in Balochistan comprising of nationalist parties with strong nationalist roots. Provincial government demanded more autonomy for the Balochis but federal government did not accept this demand. In the same year federal government foiled a rebellion effort and the provincial government was dismissed. After the dismissal of the government, nationalist insurgency exploded into widespread civil disobedience. Bhutto sent army to crush the insurgency and maintain law and order. A full fledged battle started between Baloch nationalists and Pakistan army which lasted for 4 years, as a result thousands were killed from both sides. The result of this operation was more rebellion and hatred and after 30 years of their struggle Balochis are still fighting. Why Balochis are fighting? Is a big question, but I think they are not fighting as most of them do not even think beyond a bottle of water or a piece of bread which is a rare commodity in the region. These are the Sardars and Waderas who want more shares in terms of money from Federal government. Federal government's policy regarding Balochistan have always been disastrous, they deal with the Sardars and pay them their share to silence the common Balochis, who have been deprived of basic necessities of life even in the 21st century. If we want not to experience another tragedy like East Pakistan we would have to address the needs and rights of the poor Balochi people. India is actively playing their role in fueling the nationalist movement, our agencies need to foil the links between these two.

Saleem Shahzad's Murder and PNS Mahran Attack

Saleem Shahzad Murder

The dead body of Syed Saleem Shahzad, the Pakistan Bureau Chief of Asia Times Online, who disappeared on May 29, 2011, from the F-6/2 area of Islamabad, has been recovered from Sarai Alamgir. He was on his way to the studios of Dunya News channel to particiate in a program to discuss his latest report on the attacks on PNS Mehran when the producer made the last contact with him. Before abduction Shahzad had published an article on Asia Times Online regarding the attack of Al-Qaeda on PNS Mahran and links between Al-Qaeda and Naval soldiers. It is strongly believed that he was under threat from intelligence agencies for quite sometime as he wrote extensively about the Al-Qaeda, Taliban and their supporters in Pakistan.

Saleem Shahzad had strong interaction with Al-Qaeda and Pakistan Military; he published some exclusive stories about Taliban movement and Al-Qaeda. In October 2010 he was (according to him) investigated by ISI for publishing a story about the release of a Taliban leader by Pakistan to facilitate talks between Taliban and security forces. He published his much awaited book ‘Inside al Qaeda and the Taliban: Beyond Bin Laden and 9/11’ in May, 2011.

The major cause of his murder is told to be the story published in Asia Times Online ‘Al-Qaeda had warned of Pakistan Strike’, in which he claimed that Al-Qaeda carried out the attacks on PNS Mehran in Karachi after negotiations had failed between the navy and Al-Qaeda regarding the release of naval officials held by navy intelligence for their links with the terrorist organization. He wrote that some officials of junior cadre of Navy had been strong supporters of Al-Qaeda and they have been planning to attack US officials and experts working at base. They were caught and held by Navy for interrogations to find out to what extent teh militancy had crept into the naval ranks. The attacks on Naval buses earlier were warning calls by Al-Qaeda to release the linked officials.

The details of Attack on Mahran base provided so far confirm the report released by Shahzad, as it is not believable that only 6 terrorists engaged whole Navy, Army Commandoes and Rangers for 17 long hours killing 13 soldiers without the helping hands from inside. Who killed Saleem Shahzad will remain a mystery for ever as in a country where the murderers of its first PM had never been exposed, what is the value of a journalist, but the courage and grit he showed to expose the corruption within the military sytem will be remebered. God bless his soul the eternal peace and his family with the courage and determination to bear this great loss, ameen.

PNS Mahran Attack

Pakistan is under threat from all corners of the state; extremism and terrorism has paralyzed our nation, in these testing times Pakistani Military is the only hope left for most Pakistanis. But in a month the military has suffered the worst ever damage, first presence of OBL in Pakistan for more than 5 years undermined the efficiency of our intelligence agencies. Afterwards operation by US forces inside Pakistan proved incompetence of our army, now Mahran base attack has exposed the security and professional capability of our Air Force and Navy. Taliban and Al-Qaeda will definitely have links with military in Pakistan, as some former services chiefs still support them openly. Soldiers from lower ranks have strong affection with Islam, and it is obvious that they will not be happy for fighting against their own men for the sake of USA. We can expect some deep rooted dissent among the military officials, it needs to be pointed out and corrected otherwise we will not be able to get out of this mess.

In the last I would like to pay tribute to the soldiers killed in the Mahran Base attack for their sacrifice. I would also like to share a message sent by one of my college friends who is now a soldier at Pakistan navy. He told me that his colleagues in navy were very disappointed with the role of media in making a single person, Yasir Abbas hero out of 13 personnel martyred in the attack. I explained him the reasons why media was running such campaign, I fear I would not be able to share it here. Personally I am surprised to hear the News that Prime Minister has advised president to confer Nishan e Haider on Yasir Abbas for fighting bravely with the terrorists. What does it mean that the others who were killed did not fight bravely, or they were supporting the terrorists? His mother told a news reporter that he was on phone when blast happened so he disconnected the call. It clearly shows that he was even not aware of the attack until he heard the blast of terrorist attack on a nearby naval plane.

The martyrs should be respected and saluted but conferring the highest military medal to a soldier who was killed in their own den in such shameful security negligence would not only undermine the prestige of the award but would also be mockery of our proud military traditions. Common Pakistanis have always loved, supported and faced poverty for our military, but now the time has changed we can not worship them like the sacred cows if they would not be loyal and faithful to the poor nation. It is a need of the time to make a thorough investigation to cleanse our military from the people who are not loyal to our national interests.


Note: I was away for sometime therefore i was not able to update the series who ruined the Quiad's dream, i hope it will be completed soon.

Who Ruined the Quaid's Dream (1958-65)

Political Debacle (1948-1958)

Failure of Pakistan Muslim League after assassination of Liquat ali Khan gave rise to a long lasting political crisis which prevailed until General Ayyub Khan took over and banned all political activity in the country. Muslim League failed to counter the problems because of the lack of capable and enthusiastic leadership. Although there were some faithful associates of Mohammad Ali Jinnah to guide the country but they were not able to resolve their own differences. Personal rivalries, power struggle, ethnic differences and regional bias resulted in a forgettable period of Pakistani political history. In the first ten years of its establishment Seven Prime Ministers, Four Governor Generals and a president had been tried but most of them failed to deliver. The other major reason behind the political debacle was the fact that country had two culturally, politically and socially distinct parts East and West Pakistan. Bengalis were economically weaker but politically more mature than the West Pakistanis, they did not want to accept the hegemony of West Pakistan. Ethnic and lingual divide between two halves gave rise to difference which remained the centre of politics in the country. In East Pakistan the darkest chapter of our politics was written when on Sep 21, 1958 in an assembly brawl deputy speaker Shahid Ali Jan was killed and many assembly members were injured. This incident highlighted the political turmoil which invited the military to take control of affairs

Military Take over (1958)

Ayyub Khan was made the commander in chief of Pakistan army superseding two senior officers in 1951 by then Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan. Ayyub Khan had strong links with the political leadership in the country. In his autobiography he has revealed some interesting facts about the role he played time to time in the early politics of the country. How he described the politicians (even Quaid’s associates) is a clear indication military mind set about the civilians. It is an open secret that he had a strong backing from USA and other anti-USSR countries; in fact he was made the C-I-C after a strong support from Anglo-American forces. Ayuub Khan joined the active politics when he became the Defense Minister in the cabinet of Mohammad Ali Bogra in 1954. Iskandar Mirza took over as Governor General ousting Ghulam Mohammad; he had deep rooted ties with Ayyub Khan. In 1958 he declared martial law in country citing the fragile political situation. Ayyub Khan was made chief martial law administrator, who later toppled Iskandar Mirza and became field martial.

U2 Incident 1961 (US used Pakistani Airspace)

It is a million dollar question these days who was the first ruler in Pakistan who gave USA the permission to play with the sovereignty of Pakistan. It was in late 50’s when Pakistan gave them the air and land space to fight their enemy no 1 USSR. In 1960 a US spy plane was shot down by USSR for violating its territories. The incident intensified the ongoing cold war between US and USSR and world was on the verge of first nuclear war. It was later discovered that the spy plane was flown from an air base in Peshawar, which was given to USA. This event enraged the Soviets who were already seeing Pakistan as an enemy for siding USA. This event signified that Pakistan had given the USA authority to violate its territory and use its space for carrying spy operations. Afterwards Soviet Union turned against Pakistan and helped India to break the country into two.

Fatima Jinnah Defeated (1964)

Ayyub Khan introduced basic democracies system and got elected as a president through a poll by basic democrats. He used every possible opportunity to wrest his control on power. During his regime political parties were banned from any political activity and strict bans were put on already inept press. In these circumstances Ayyub introduced a construction in 1962 which was a big failure as the nation rejected his self created document. In 1964 he announced elections for President under new constitution to legitimize and prolong his rule. Opposition was able to persuade Fatima Jinnah to contest the elections. Fatima Jinnah was highly respected personality fro her role in supporting Quiad e Azam in his great struggle. Ayyub Khan had an agenda on his hands from foreign powers so he made the worst rigging in elections and won it by a clear majority. This election is an important event in the history of our nation. Results of the elections divided the country among two as Fatima Jinnah gained majority in East Pakistan and Karachi but in other parts of country there was no contest between the two. Bengalis were outrageous on the manipulated elections and protests started in different parts of East Pakistan. The year after the elections Sheikh Mujeeb Ur Rehman announced his famous 6 points which was considered as the document of separation.

Operation Giberalter (1965)

Kashmir issue was thrown into cold due to the domestic turmoil in Pakistan in early days of Pakistan. India gave Jammu and Kashmir an autonomous entity through their constitution in early 50’s thus rasing fears in Pakistan. There were worrying signs in Jammu and Kashmir as no major appraisal opposition was seen there, Kashmiri’s main leader Sheikh Abdullah was released and was in some dialogue with India. Pakistan was having full support of US due to cold war situation. Sino-Indian war of 1962 has put China and Pakistan in close relations. The news of disappearance of a holy Relic (holy hair of Hazrat Mohammad PBUH) in 1965 had given rise to dissent and revolt among the Kashmiris on the Indian side. Ayyub Khan considered it a real opportunity to get hold of Jamuu and Kashmir, thus a program was designed to infiltrate the civil and military guerillas into Indian Occupied Kashmir and liberate the remaining area. The operation named Opreation Giberalter was started in 1965, Pakistani forces aided with civilian fighters crossed into Indian Occupied Kashmir and captured many areas of great importance. India was on the verge of loosing Kashmir therefore they attacked Pakistan from the Western front Punjab. Both countries have made considerable advancement into each others territory, when USSR and USA come to rescue and a ceasefire was arranged. Ayyub Khan and Lal Bahadur Shastri signed Tashkent agreement in 1966 to put militaries from both countries to pre war positions. Given the situation in Pakistan facing worst ever political and economic turmoil operation giberalter was a luxury which Pakistan did not afford. The operation put the morale of already suffering nation to ground and we were not able strengthen ourselves when India designed the same operation in East Pakistan top deprive us from half of our land and people.