Doubts Cast on Zardari’s Mental Health

By Michael Peel in London and Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad

Published: August 25 2008 23:31 | Last updated: August 25 2008 23:31

Asif Ali Zardari, the leading contender for the presidency of nuclear-armed Pakistan, was suffering from severe psychiatric problems as recently as last year, according to court documents filed by his doctors.

The widower of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was diagnosed with a range of serious illnesses including dementia, major depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder in a series of medical reports spanning more than two years.

EDITOR’S CHOICE

Pakistan aims for nuclear acceptance – Aug-27

Pakistan campaign kicks off amid rift – Aug-26

Editorial comment: Pakistan’s turmoil – Aug-26

UN envoy’s ties to Zardari questioned – Aug-26

Sharif quits Pakistan coalition – Aug-25

Battle scars on show as Zardari in spotlight – Aug-25

Mr Zardari, the co-chair of the Pakistan People’s party, and its candidate to succeed president Pervez Musharraf, who stepped down last week, spent 11 of the past 20 years in Pakistani prisons fighting corruption allegations, during which he claims to have been tortured.

While Mr Zardari was not available to comment, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, Pakistan’s high commissioner to London, speaking on his behalf, said he was now fit and well.

News of his medical records came as Nawaz Sharif, head of the junior partner in the government, pulled his party out of the coalition, partly because of differences over Mr Zardari’s presidential candidacy.

In court documents seen by the Financial Times, Philip Saltiel, a New York City-based psychiatrist, said in a March 2007 diagnosis that Mr Zardari’s imprisonment had left him suffering from “emotional instability” and memory and concentration problems. “I do not foresee any improvement in these issues for at least a year,” Mr Saltiel wrote.

Stephen Reich, a New York state-based psychologist, said Mr Zardari was unable to remember the birthdays of his wife and children, was persistently apprehensive and had thought about suicide.

Mr Zardari used the medical diagnoses to argue successfully for the postponement of a now-defunct English High Court case in which Pakistan’s government was suing him over alleged corruption, court records show.

The case – brought to seize some of his UK assets – was dropped in March, at about the same time that corruption charges in Pakistan were dismissed. However, the court papers raise questions about Mr Zardari’s ability to help guide one of the world’s most strategically important countries following the resignation last week of Mr Musharraf, under whose rule the corruption cases against the PPP leader and his late wife, Benazir Bhutto, were pursued.

Mr Zardari and Ms Bhutto, who was murdered in December while leading the PPP in elections that gave it the most seats in Pakistan’s parliament, were also the target of corruption investigations in Switzerland and Spain. The Geneva prosecutor said on Monday that money laundering charges against Mr Zardari were being dropped.

Mr Hasan, a long-standing political ally and friend of the Zardari/Bhutto family, told the Financial Times on Monday that Mr Zardari had subsequent medical examinations and his doctors had “declared him medically fit to run for political office and free of any symptoms”.

“You have got to understand that while he was in prison on charges that were never proven, there were attempts to kill him,” Mr Hasan said. “At that time, he was surrounded by fear all the time. Any human being living in such a condition will of course suffer from the effects of continuous fear. But that is all history.

“In fact, many people were very impressed to see Mr Zardari go through the trauma of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, but still hold himself together, hold his family, especially his children, close to him at this very difficult time.”

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008

Pakistan’s New Qaumi Tarana

 

Zardari ki zamin shad bad

Bijli aay 8 ghantay baad

 

Tu nishanay corruption aalishan

Arz e zardaristan,shaad baad sindh abaad

 

Zardari ki zamin ka nizam

Aaatay,gas,bijli ka bohran

 

Quam mulk sub-gharak Nawaz,wakil paainda bad

Bainazir dunya say farar

 

Parchamay sitara-o-Hilal

Khoon main ranga sara saal

 

Bhool apna maazi Shan-e-haal, jaan ne istaqlal

saya-e-America sar pe sawar

Muneer Malik on the Pakistan Lawyers’ Movement

Who would have thought on 8th March 2007 that General Musharrf’s grip on power could be seriously challenged? With confidence bordering on cockiness, his allies taunted the opposition parties that they would elect General Musharraf as President in uniform not once or twice but as long as it was expedient. The opposition was seemingly all at sea lacking the will to mobilize the people of Pakistan to stand up for the Rule of Law. All of a sudden, as if struck by a bolt of lightning, a defiant “No” changed the dynamics of the power game. Since 9th Match, the Black Coats of Pakistan waged a relentless struggle to change mindsets. We had to teach the common man what justice really meant, who was the oppressor and who could deliver them from oppression. We preached that the realization of their fundamental rights was inextricably intertwined with the existence of an independent judiciary in which every judge across the land is pro-people with the courage to say that enough is enough – that all men and women, no matter howsoever high or howsoever low, are equal in the eyes of the law; that it is no longer acceptable that the weaker sections of society should remain in bondage as if they were subjects of some colonial power, that the people were sovereign masters of their destiny and captains of their fate and that the rulers were there to serve them and not to lord over them.. Our fight was to change mindsets within the judiciary so that they may liberate themselves from the reviled and thoroughly discredited doctrines of the past that were used time and again to justify the militarization of the institutions of state. We had to change the mindsets of our politicians – that political power emanates from the people and not from foreign capitols; that they turn anti-people when they welcome military takeovers or share the crumbs of power with usurpers; that democracy and tolerance are inseparable twins and that they must strive to strengthen institutions and not men. We wanted our armed forces to know that we honour the soldier who has laid down his life for the defense of the country but that we are bounden to resist when the watchman forcibly takes over the master’s house and that their guns should be pointed outwards to defend the frontiers of our lands rather than pointing inwards at the people they have sworn to protect.

And indeed what an incredible movement it has been. Putting personal interest aside, the overwhelming majority of lawyers galvanized the masses and paved the way for the political leadership to assert the supremacy of civilian institutions. We did not rest with the restoration of the Chief Justice to his rightful position but went to met out the cause of the injustice that pervades our society. It is our position that this injustice rests on the foundations of arbitrary and dictatorial rule and in order to establish a just society we must uproot the old foundations.

I have often been asked that judges were sacked on previous occasions as well and why was it that only this time was such an incredible movement launched. My answer has always been that the legal fraternity has raised its pretest in the past as well but this time the turf was different. In the age of information -and globalization the media is a key player. Muzzle them if you want but you can never shut them off completely and when you muzzle them you only strengthen the belief that the truth is being suppressed. We acknowledge that but for the courageous media that carried our message to the people of Pakistan and abroad, ours would have been an extremely difficult if not impossible straggle. We gratefully acknowledge the role of civil society, the political leadership, and the political worker in strengthening our hands.

I am also asked whether the judiciary post – 20th July threw caution to the winds and moved too fast before consolidating its gains. My answer has been that it was a catch 22 situation in that the people’s expectations from the judiciary had never been higher, in fact so high that if it failed to deliver it risked being accused of regression and if its image suffered it risked being attacked again by the executive. Accordingly it had to grapple with some issues which the parliament tiled to look into though duty bound to do so. The case of missing persons is a classic example – when the judiciary intervened it was accused of releasing terrorists and this absurd charge became one of the bases for the imposition of Emergency and the resort to the extra-constitutional steps taken on 3rd November. History teaches us that a tottering dictatorship will use three to crush resistance to its will but it also teaches us that the just cause of the people will ultimately prevail. The results of the general elections are now in and we have seen the massive rejection of General Musharraf and his collaborators. We were buoyed with the victory of the democratic forces and were confident that together we would see the restoration of the pre 3rd November judiciary. We are dismayed at the breach of the Murree Declaration and the proposed constitutional package but we refuse to give up. The Long March has renewed our vigour and determination to press ahead with our movement

In the process of our struggle we have learnt some invaluable lessons too. We have learnt that we have no monopoly on wisdom and that it is for the Political leadership of this Country to navigate the ship of the state to the safety of the harbor. We are conscious of the dangers ahead and the need to consolidate our gains, to move forward but with unity of purpose and to tread with caution whilst we consolidate our gains.

The idea of penning my reflections came to me as I lay on my concrete mattress in a cell at Attock jail. As a chronicler who was in the midst of events, I cannot help being inundated with the emotional undercurrents of the Lawyer’s Movement. It is my perception of the events as I saw them and I will be the first to concede that others may disagree. My perception may be tainted by my belief in the righteousness of our cause.

Summer Classes for Men

Summer Classes for Men at
THE
ADULT LEARNING CENTER

REGISTRATION MUST BE COMPLETED
by Friday, August  29 th 2008
NOTE: DUE TO THE COMPLEXITY AND DIFFICULTY LEVEL
OF THEIR CONTENTS, CLASS SIZES WILL BE LIMITED TO 8 PARTICIPANTS MAXIMUM

Class 1
How To Fill Up The Ice Cube Trays–Step by Step, with Slide Presentation.
Meets 4 weeks, Monday and Wednesday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM .

Class 2
The Toilet Paper Roll–Does It Change Itself?
Round Table Discussion.
Meets 2 weeks, Saturday 12:00 for 2 hours.

Class 3
Is It Possible To Urinate Using The Technique Of Lifting The Seat and Avoiding The Floor, Walls and Nearby Bathtub?–Group Practice.
Meets 4 weeks, Saturday 10:00 PM for 2 hours.

Class 4
Fundamental Differences Between The Laundry Hamper and The Floor–Pictures and Explanatory Graphics.
Meets Saturdays at 2:00 PM for 3 weeks.

Class 5
Dinner Dishes–Can They Levitate and Fly Into The Kitchen Sink?
Examples on Video.
Meets 4 weeks, Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours beginning
at 7:00 PM

Class 6
Loss Of Identity–Losing The Remote To Your Significant Other.
Help Line Support and Support Groups.
Meets 4 Weeks, Friday and Sunday 7:00 PM

Class 7
Learning How To Find Things–Starting With Looking In The Right Places And Not Turning The House Upside Down While Screaming.
Open Forum
Monday at 8:00 PM , 2 hours.

Class 8
Health Watch–Bringing Her Flowers Is Not Harmful To Your Health.
Graphics and Audio Tapes.
Three nights; Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7:00 PM for 2 hours.

Class 9
Real Men Ask For Directions When Lost–Real Life Testimonials.
Tuesdays at 6:00 PM Location to be determined

Class 10
Is It Genetically Impossible To Sit Quietly While She Parallel Parks?
Driving Simulations.
4 weeks, Saturday’s noon, 2 hours.

Class 11
Learning to Live–Basic Differences Between Mother and Wife.
Online Classes and role-playing
Tuesdays at 7:00 PM , location to be determined

Class 12
How to be the Ideal Shopping Companion
Relaxation Exercises, Meditation and Breathing Techniques.
Meets 4 weeks, Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM .

Class 13
How to Fight Cerebral Atrophy–Remembering Birthdays, Anniversaries and Other Important Dates and Calling When You’re Going To Be Late.
Cerebral Shock Therapy Sessions and Full Lobotomies Offered.
Three nights; Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7:00 PM for 2 hours.

Class 14
The Stove/Oven–What It Is and How It Is Used.
Live Demonstration.
Tuesdays at 6:00 PM , location to be determined.

 

Upon completion of any of the above courses, diplomas will be issued to the survivors.

Send this to all the guys that you think can stand the heat, and to all the ladies for the best chuckle of their day!

Humanity of the Taliban

Lyse Doucet, who has been at the BBC since 1983, also spoke out against the nature of the reports on Prince Harry’s deployment in Afghanistan.

The veteran correspondent and presenter, who played a key role in the BBC’s coverage of the war in Afghanistan in 2001, told the Edinburgh International Television Conference: “What’s lacking in the coverage of the Afghans is the sense of the humanity of the Afghans.

“In the Prince Harry coverage for example, there were all these people out there you never really saw them. “You knew that the bombs were dropping in that direction and the guns pointing in that direction but you never got a sense of how Afghans are as a people.”

Asked what was missing in British coverage, she added: “It may sound odd but the humanity of the Taliban, because the Taliban are a wide, very diverse group of people. “Some of them would like to talk to the British Government. Some of them don’t want to be fighting British troops. Some of them would. This is the ideological Taliban.

“We never have the ability or sometimes the desire to present this in a different way, so that people would be interested … it’s a regret.” She told the conference: “In a country which is as complex, and as difficult and dangerous as Afghanistan you can’t really cover it properly and get the full picture unless you are there day in, day out. Unless you are living there and feeling and eating the heat and the dust.”

She added: “What does it feel like to be a British soldier under fire? It’s bloody frightening and difficult and dangerous, exhilarating as well.

“But we also want to know what it feels like to be an Afghan involved with such hopes in 2001 that things would get better and they’ve got a lot worse.”  She said that it was “getting more and more dangerous” to cover the country. Of the news black-out on Prince Harry’s trip to Afghanistan, she said: “It’s a hard one because with an issue like Prince Harry it meant that there was a series of decisions taken all along the way. Journalists were one bit of a very long chain. “If Harry went, there was no doubt that he was going to put himself and the lives of his commanders at risk. “We are making these deals all the time. When Gordon Brown goes to Afghanistan we are not allowed to report. Perhaps it (the deal) won’t happen again.”

Canadian-born Doucet said: “It probably did bring a lot of people to think about Afghanistan who normally wouldn’t ordinarily think about Afghanistan. If the Prince Harry story can bring more people to think about Afghanistan then that’s a good thing.

“There was a lost opportunity. There was hardly any mention of Afghans, even of Afghanistan … (just a) sense of ‘I went to a country far away’.

But she added: “Viewing figures went up, Prince Harry got a hero’s welcome and recruitment for the British Army went up so an objective was achieved. Did that mean people knew more about why Britain was there? I don’t think so. “Journalists focused on the human story but it should part of a wider picture.” Doucet, who also covered Iraq in 2003, and the war between Israel and Hizbollah in 2006, added: “The right questions were not asked.”