Civil-Military Tussle In Pakistan-Latest

This article was originally published on 13/11/2015 and was forced to be taken down from the blog. However, under the current security scenario of Pakistan, and the initiation of military action against militants and terrorists in Punjab, the article holds valid and extensive grounds to be republished on the basis of the analysis it presents regards security situation of Pakistan.

The politically powerful Army of Pakistan blew the whistle at the inefficient and corrupt civil government to mend ways and get serious in defeating the menace of Terrorism in the country. The cause of the Army's concern is the political patronage afforded to the religious extremist organizations essentially operating in the province of Punjab. Punjab happens to be the bastion of power for the ruling clan of Nawaz Sharif, the incumbent Prime minister of Pakistan. The Pakistan Army views their anti terrorism drive across the country as being directly linked with the anti corruption and accountability efforts in the country. Corruption has become an even bigger threat than terrorism in Pakistan. Corrupt political mafias led under the ruling clan use religious extremist organizations to coerce public votes in their favour and in return provide patronage to these groups. Reportedly, a senior minister in the provincial government of Punjab, heads the umbrella organization over seeing various Punjabi religious extremist splinter groups. These groups are said to be involved in incidents of terrorism and makes money through kidnapping for ransom. This minister is said to be the head of this mafia of terrorists in Punjab with the full knowledge and support of  the Punjabi Chief Minister Mr Shahbaz Sharif, the younger brother of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. It is said that irrespective of the ruling brothers wish to stop this minister, they are unable to do so as the said politician has deep rooted dirty secrets of the party in power at the Punjab and center. The complete bureaucracy and police is subservient to the whims of this minister owing to his official position. This minister reportedly gets away with murder, kidnapping and extortion by controlling the judicial system in the province through sell out judges and police officers. This system suits the Punjabi politicians in power. Those few brave and honest officials who refuse to play ball are either black mailed into submission due to their immediate families being threatened or controlled through the threat of being transferred from the province. Officials putting up a stand against this system and its patrons have been reported to be murdered through the religious extremist militant groups working under the patronage of the said minister at Punjab. Pakistan Army in its successful counter insurgency drive in Pakistan wiping off extremism wants to now focus its attention on the cancer of extremist militant violence in Punjab. This irks the ruling clan who banks on the same religious fundamentalists to hold on to power and dictate terms making them billions in the bargain. For the Pakistani Army it is a matter of Pakistan's survival as a progressive state in the world, and for the ruling political clan it is about their hold on to power which enables them to run their businesses generating billions in revenues.

On the economic front, the government of  Nawaz Sharif is taking unprecedented loans from international borrowers on sovereign guarantees. His brother in law Ishaq Dar, the finance minister terms these loans as the economic success of their government. Pakistani economic growth in reality is singularly dependent on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project, which is still in its infancy, being chartered by the Chinese investment being made under explicit security guarantees of the Pakistan Army. Mega corruption scandals are surfacing in mass infrastructure projects in Punjab which is said to have made billions essentially for the Sharif clan in power and their associates. All these projects are being funded from the borrowed money from local and international vendors. Inflation and price hikes have sky rocketed which is being faced by the poorest of the Pakistani society. These poor masses, under severe financial distress turn to any violent/extremist philosophy sold by groups like the Pakistani Taliban and their affiliates. Under no hope of justice and facing acute poverty, the youth which form the visible majority of the Pakistani population, may be easily led to militancy and there are indicators of such happenings in Pakistan in abundance. The Pakistani Army while appreciating the whole situation deducts that its a time bomb waiting to explode if not neutralized in time. To avoid such a disaster, the inhuman practices in Punjab by the leading politicians not only needs to be curbed, but rooted out for the secure future of Pakistan. However, doing so is viewed by the ruling political clan as the demise of their brand of politics. It's a matter of survival for both Pakistan and the Sharif clan currently ruling it through extortion and terror where required.

There is a consensus among the influential elite and educated Pakistanis that democracy is the only future of Pakistani politics and the Pakistan Army shares this school of thought. Having said that, there is no way under the current fascist political system that democracy has any future in Pakistan. this fascist system is represented by a class of rotten politicians serving self interests rather the country's. Even the democratic watch dogs are compromised with the appointments of corrupt and controversial lackeys of the Sharif regime as their heads. These appointments are supported by the Pakistan People's Party in opposition, which has its own numerous skeletons to hide. Mere cupboards are not enough to hide these skeletons which now need storage houses. Honest officers and other whistle blowers are silenced through the barrel of the hired guns. Injustice prevails in abundance and justice is out of the reach of a common citizen in Pakistan. The general perception of the masses in Pakistan is that the Pakistani judiciary has failed the common man in Pakistan but serves the rich and mighty.

The Pakistan Army recently underwent an internal anti corruption cleansing drive penalizing dozens of officers who made assets without visible earnings to prove. Even Generals have not been spared in this anti corruption cleansing of the Army. The Pakistan Army's higher command have put their own house in order. They have witnessed their young officers laying down their lives in the hundreds during the anti terrorist operations and are now demanding the politicians of the country put their affairs in order or face the music.

The Pakistan Army would support the democratic government of  Nawaz Sharif Clan or any other party until the time that they are not providing patronage to anti state corrupt elements of the society. Corruption and nepotism define the current democratic political system of the Pakistani state which may refine itself in time, however, under the ongoing patronage of the extremist militant outfits in Punjab by the Sharif clan and its cronies, Pakistani federation is under a dire threat. Pakistan Army is under severe pressure from the population and politicians of other smaller provinces where the Pakistani Army operated ruthlessly to root out economic and militant terrorism, to take action in the biggest province of the Punjab. Punjab holds the key to eliminate extremism in Pakistan and avoiding a clean up there would be detrimental to the counter insurgency efforts of the security forces of Pakistan who are paying with blood for their efforts to wipe terrorists off the face of Pakistan . Pakistan Army is demanding an action from the civil government in accordance with the earlier agreed upon national action plan to eliminate extremism and terrorism at Pakistan which requires across the board accountability. Nawaz Sharif's government and the rest of the political elite of Pakistan will not let the same accountability occur at any cost if it is within their power as the same directly affects their own corruption spread over decades. It's a battle of survival for the corrupt politicians of Pakistan and their associates. They are anxiously hearing the warning bells being rung by the Army higher command to clean up their act. The Pakistan Army will get their way one way or the other in the coming days during which terrorists and their political patrons in Punjab will be targeted like the other provinces, whether the ruling politicians likes it or not. They can either cooperate or face the music themselves, either way the Pakistan Army will lead the operation at Punjab. Resisting the anti militancy operation in Punjab by the Sharif clan in power would create frictions which may give way to their ultimate destruction by the very hands which created them in the first place. The choice is theirs, if they want to fight this change and diminish or cooperate with the Army and stay relevant to the power dynamics of Pakistan. Tough choice either way for Nawaz Sharif and Co.

                ALL POLITICAL POWER, COMES FROM THE BARREL OF A GUN 
                                                                                                        MAO ZEDONG-                         

Rise Of Hindu Nationalism In India

 In yet another gruesome act of Hindu extremist violence in India, a Muslim senior citizen was lynched to death for the suspicion of stealing a calf. Incidentally cows are worshiped as mothers by the Hindus.  The victim was a government school headmaster and respected member of the society, but that did not deter the Hindu mob, which killed him blinded by hate and prejudice born out of Hindu fundamentalist nationalist ideologies. This incident is not the first but one of many hate crimes committed through mob violence ever since the Hindu nationalist government of Mr Narendra Modi came to power in India. According to a leading Christian rights group, at least 600 such hate crimes occurred in India through such attacks, which took place between the election of Modi and August of this year. One hundred and forty nine of these assaults were against Christians and rest were targeted at the country's Muslim community. The Hindu nationalist government party BJP, led by PM Modi augmented this sad saga of violence by supporting their state governments which passed laws banning the eating of  beef and cow slaughter. It is shocking to know that eating a beef steak in India can get you behind bars in some of the world's worst prisons for up to seven years in a row. The sick Hindu nationalist mentality of the proclaimed secular democracy of India was exposed after this ban on beef, when a Muslim man was killed on the suspicion of storing beef  in his house refrigerator. Not only was the meat stored found to be that of a goat (mutton) after forensic investigation, but the fact that the victim was the father of an Indian Air Force serviceman did nothing to deter the Hindu mob, which lynched him to death. This Hindu fundamentalist majority in India worships cows and even drink their urine as a religious obligation. Ironically, these Bhakts (Hindu fundamentalists) as they are popularly called, belong not only to the illiterate class of Indians but include the well to do educated ones as well in huge numbers. Hindus are in the majority in India, but these fanatic Hindu nationalists treat their own lower classes called the Dalits as untouchables who are treated inhumanely by them. This spell of violence in India is being orchestrated by the militant arm of ruling BJP party known as the RSS. The PM Modi has been a life long member of  the RSS and started his politics from the platform of the RSS. The RSS is now forcing Indian minorities to convert into Hinduism. When they refuse to do so their houses are burnt down, livelihood destroyed and women and children raped and murdered.

Mr Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist party has a history of religious and communal violence. As the Chief Minister of the Indian state of Gujarat, Modi oversaw the massacre of thousands of Muslims by Hindu nationalists. Until Modi became the Prime minister of India due to the votes of this same Hindu nationalist majority, he was banned entry to the USA due to his human rights violations record. The US was forced to grant him entry in grand style because of their newly found fondness for India. The west wants to see India as a counterweight to the ever rising influence of China in the Asia pacific region. Narendra Modi was not elected for his human rights criminal violations in Gujarat by the Indians but for his successful economic model which saw the rise of Gujarat as an economic hub of India and his promise to transform the complete Indian economy on his Gujarat model. However, after more then one year in power, all he has to show is inflated and sometimes flawed reports about the growth of Indian economy essentially published by the western media desperate to show India as the better place to put international investment rather then China. On ground, the Indian exports have decreased and China is still emerging as the top destination for foreign direct investment. Modi projected his brand India by wearing a colourful crafty wardrobe around the world which resulted in him shining on the global map in the eyes of westerners who were as intrigued as a five year old watching a circus act. That however was all it is about when it comes to his performance.

Domestically, after the swearing in of the BJP government in May 2014, India saw a sharp rise in religious and communal intolerance. This situation got so bad that very recently the international monetary rating agency Moody's was forced to flash a formal warning to the Indian government over these issues. However, It was bluntly rejected by the Indians as they felt that it was only the work of a junior analyst at Moody's. The flashy positive economic data published by the leading western economic media out lets like the wall street journal regarding the rise and shine Indian economy turns out to have been questioned for its authenticity and dubious nature by leading international economists including those at the wall street journal itself.  Mr Angus Deaton (British noble laureate economist) criticized the statistics produced by India in Oct 2015. Commenting on the west's deceleration of India being the top growing global economy earlier this year, he mentioned in an interview with leading Indian news channel (NDTV)  that there were "very serious discrepancies in India's economic data... I'm sure some of the growth is exaggerated... One of the things you worry about with statistics is that growth is so much a flag under which recent Indian governments have flown"  He also stated "The national accounts are showing, you know, a huge increase in the amount that people have, year, upon year, upon year, and we are just not picking it up in the household survey". It is highly pertinent to note, that Deaton won this year's Nobel Prize for economics, in part for his work measuring the poverty in India. His words extinguished the hopes the Indians had when they elected the manic Hindu nationalist government, led by a man with a blood tainted record, due to his promises of an economic revival on his so called Gujarat Model.

Hindu nationalism in India has always had a history , but its most recent rise is worrying the secular Indian population in India and abroad. In the past the Sikh population of India fell victim to the same phenomenon and migrated to western countries in huge numbers during the mid 80's. This mass migration occurred after they demanded a separate state for themselves because they were trying to escape the Hindu fundamentalist policies of India. Most recently, a movement of Indian intellectuals has been born. They resist, protest and fight back the cancer of Hindu nationalism which arose after the advent of Modi government to power. Award winning famous Indian writers are returning their honours and awards to the Indian government in protest. One such internationally acclaimed Indian writer, Arundhati Roy said while returning her awards to the Indian nationalist government on Nov 5, 2015, said, "... Today, we live in a country in which, when the thugs and apparatchiks of the New Order of "illegal slaughter", they mean the imaginary cow that was killed, not the real man who was murdered. When they talk of taking "evidence of forensic examination" from the scene of the crime, they mean the food in the fridge, not the body of the lynched man..."
                                 
With the chartering of the Modi nationalist government, India saw a rise of Hindu nationalism supplemented by mindless violence. The newly found Hindu macho-ism was not restricted to Indian mainland but it spread fast to skirmishes on the India-Pakistan border resulting in hundreds of casualties on both sides. In the genesis of this rise of Hindu nationalism in India, there is a strong element of hatred directed towards the Muslims of India and neighbouring Pakistan. Pakistan however, unlike the Muslims of India is a nuclear armed republic with strong Armed Forces at her disposal to counter the Indian aggression and that is exactly what it is doing. This rise of Hindu nationalism under Modi's rule in India would expose the world to the risk of a nuclear holocaust in South Asia if remained unchecked. Incidents like the banning of Pakistani artists, international cricket umpire and an attack on a book launch by a Pakistani writer in India are a direct result of this latest rise in the Indian nationalist violence and speaks volumes about the mood prevailing in India among the majority Hindu fundamentalist population.

Under the circumstances, brand India is facing strict scrutiny around the world with its already tarnished image due to a series of gang rapes involving foreign/western tourists. Fundamentalist attitudes are fast becoming mainstream in India. If this dangerous trend is failed to be restrained it will most probably only give rise to schismatic tendencies in India. The country already faces dozens of separatist rebel movements. The huge global Indian diaspora with the support of the western media, fights desperately to control the damage, however mere propaganda won't put this genie back in the bottle. It would require a national consensus in India to address the issue of Hindu fundamentalist violence that the country currently is faced with. If this fails, the Modi government typically may divert the public attention towards and militarily challenging neighbouring Pakistan. That would be a grave mistake that the region can not afford due to the obvious fatal consequences.

India has always desired to be and has been portrayed in the recent past as a tolerant open minded democracy that is in the running to be a world super power. Narendra Modi has single handedly in the space of under two years, managed to prove the two nation theory used as a reason to create the two countries of India and Pakistan. He has also managed to demolish the majority of the efforts made by the people and the leaders that came before him to depict India as a progressive state. Arundhati Roy has managed to paint a more realistic portrait of the India of today with the following words:

We say we have "progressed", but when Dalits are butchered and their children burned alive, which writer today can freely say, like Babasaheb Ambedkar once did, that  "to the untouchables, Hinduism is a veritable chamber of horrors",without getting attacked, lynched, shot or jailed ? ... "         

          

Why Pakistan Should Establish Diplomatic Ties With Israel

Even the idea of asking the question of establishing diplomatic ties with Israel can be deemed as treading on uneven ground. Not many dare to address the subject, at the very least in Pakistan without facing severe criticism spearheaded by the political and religious clergy. Even the mere mention of the name Israel is a huge taboo within the country, let alone acknowledging her existence and discussing diplomatic norms with them. Irrespective of this lets examine the facts here.

• The State of Israel is a reality in the shape of her geographical existence.
• The Palestinian people sold their lands to the Jews themselves for the state of Israel to exist.
• The holocaust did occur and the result was a natural process, in which the Jews required an independent state to live their lives in peace and practice their religion. 
• Pakistan was created by the Muslims of the Indian sub-continent under similar ideological grounds as the Jews when Israel was created.
• Israel faces an existential threat from her neighbours just like Pakistan.
• Israel does commit atrocities on its Palestinian population who refuses to abide by the rule of "might is right". Any country in the world does that to maintain its control, like Turkey does with the Kurd population. 
• Many Muslim countries have established normal diplomatic ties with the State of Israel including Jordan, Turkey, Egypt and all Muslim Central Asian Republics. 
• By establishing normal diplomatic channels with the State of Israel, Pakistan would get the means of communications required to fight the Palestinian cause and take up their case directly with the Israeli authorities.
• If Pakistan can have diplomatic relations with India with whom it has fought three all out wars and with whom they are still fighting a proxy war with, why can't we establish ties with the state of Israel with which we have never fought a war or have any direct conflict?

Pakistan's Israel policy is in fact hostage to our clergy and it's influenced politics to begin with. The universal reply to all the above facts by the Pakistanis is usually under the influence of the false narratives of the clergy, is that by doing so, we would be betraying the Islamic cause. In this instance the Quran will always be quoted: [5;52] O ye who believe! take not the Jews and the Christians for friends... This verse is often taken out of context and misused by fanatics. The question to be asked is if this is the case then why does Pakistan maintain deep rooted diplomatic ties with the Christian majority states? For example the EU or most significantly USA, which also happens to be the primary beneficiary of the State of Israel. Pakistan accepts aid and privileges from these countries and the majority of Pakistanis would be more than willing to become citizens of these nations.

The hypocrisy of the Pakistani religious establishments is the biggest reason for not allowing ties with Israel to be established in which Israel is presented to the people as a hideous monster. No Pakistani ever dares to ask their religious leaders the fundamental question: Why Pakistan must never recognize Israel's existence irrespective of having normal ties with Christian states? The answer is because most of these religious leaders and scholars along-with their families reside in these Christian states and benefit from their social welfare systems. Children of these anti Israel religious political leaders from Pakistan study at the top EU/US universities and establish businesses there. If this is so, then why can similar relations regarding diplomacy and trade not be established with Israel?

For how long can Pakistan remain hostage to the influences of  the Arab-Persian proxy wars fought on her grounds? Even though Pakistan is the strongest Islamic country based on it's military, yet it's complete clergy is sponsored and funded by either Saudi Arabia or Iran depending upon their respective sects. The same clergy in turn sells the respective imported ideologies of their sponsors in Pakistan. This creates sectarian strife paid for by the blood of the Pakistani's and spread the anti-Semitic school of thought which strictly opposes establishing diplomatic and trade ties with Israel.

The Palestinians never supported the Kashmir cause while their leaders sided with India more than with Pakistan. Having said that, it does not imply that Pakistan must not support the Palestinians on humanitarian grounds making it even more important that Pakistan has a diplomatic channel to convey her grievances to Israel and put any reasonable pressure on the country. The State of Israel have never directly threatened Pakistan but sides with India under the continuous rhetoric by Pakistani Mullahs who state that: " Israel must be wiped off the map" using Pakistani atomic arsenal. Who are these hard line fanatics humouring with such childish hate mongering? and what reason does Pakistan have to attack Israel?.

Israel holds a dominant geopolitical influence in the Middle East and the strongest possible lobbying strength in the USA. Through the act of antagonizing Israel and not acknowledging its existence, Pakistan is closing her eyes to an established reality. A reality, which won't change but only haunt us more if we continue to ignore it further.

By establishing normal diplomatic relations with Israel, Pakistan would be able to project her soft image in the world while countering the Indian proxy war against Pakistan in which currently Israel indirectly supports India. Pakistan will also gain leverage to fight the case of Palestine more effectively with Israel by establishing direct communications channels through diplomacy with Israel. Pakistan could benefit greatly with the mentioned diplomatic ties with Israel through trade and commerce exchanges as and when such mutual relation flourish.

While it would be too optimistic to expect the deep rooted Israeli lobbying apparatus in the USA to support Pakistan in the beginning, but only the ceasing of any opposition by the Israeli lobby in the USA to the Pakistani causes means rich policy dividends for Pakistan by the US and the west. By establishing diplomatic ties with the State of Israel, Pakistan would send out a strong message to the world, that as an independent strong Muslim State, Pakistan's foreign policy is free of any external influences or dictates.

Although, a very bold and aggressive idea to some, it needs to be adopted positively for the sake of the Pakistani state, which can no longer afford to remain hostage to an extremist fundamentalist ideology which supports intolerance and promotes hatred. The Saudi and Iranian sponsored Mullahs in Pakistan can take their respective agendas and ideologies back to their sponsor states and keep it there. Pakistan must emerge from the shadows of it's past, wherein the Jihadi ideologies used to fight the cold war were promulgated to such an extent that it destroyed the very fabric of the Pakistani society. While Pakistan emerges victorious as the only country in the globe which has been able to defeat a full blown insurgency, it must make its mark by creating an independent foreign policy, free from religious prejudices. As it was the same religious prejudices which got us stuck into this mess of religious fundamentalist terror, promoting a culture of intolerance and hatred.

The benefits of Pakistan establishing diplomatic ties with the state of Israel for all the mentioned reasons and more are fully visible. Israel was created on May 14th 1948, nine months after Pakistan due to the same desire for religious freedom and a homeland created in the name of their respective religions. A paragraph of particularly wise words addressed to the nation of Pakistan by Muhammad Ali Jinnah on 14th August 1947 comes to mind. Although directed towards the country, the actions can also have the desired outcome if extended internationally as well, especially in the case of ties with Israel.

" If you will work in co-operation, forgetting the past, burying the hatchet, you are bound to succeed. If you change your past and work together in a spirit that everyone of you, no matter to what community he belongs, no matter what relations he had with you in the past, no matter what his colour, caste or creed... there will be no end to the progress you will make "     

Muhammad Ali Jinnah