Is the ISI Behind Hina Rabbani Khar & Bilawal Zardari Scandal?

By Dean Nelson

South Asia Editor

The Daily Telegraph/ 27 Sep 2012

Claims of an affair between Hina Rabbani Khar, the 34-year-old glamorous foreign minister, and the 24-year-old scion of the country’s most powerful dynasty have fuelled feverish speculation and outrage in Pakistan since they were reported in a Bangladeshi tabloid earlier this week.

According to Blitz Weekly, the married foreign minister, who has two young children with her millionaire husband, and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, the PPP co-chairman, want to marry and have been regularly talking on the telephone and sending one another cards.

The tabloid claimed President Zardari is firmly opposed to their alleged relationship and had sought details of their mobile telephone conversations to establish the facts.

As per Bangladeshi tabloid, The Blitz, Hina’s husband Firoze Gulzar had called up his wife, who is New York for the UN summit with Pakistan President Zardari, to seek clarification on the “scandal” being tossed around by the media. Tabloid says Hina and Bilawal appear to be on a collision course with their families over their desire to turn their love affair into marriage. The tabloid claims that Hina told her husband to send the link of the news story that he was referring to and Gulzar subsequently sent the same to his wife. When he called her up again, Hina reportedly asked him: “where did you get all of this rubbish stuff?” and cut the line.

However, Gulzar is said to have known about the secret relationship between his wife and Bilawal for a while now. He got suspicious when he realized that his wife was brining souvenirs for Bilawal on each of her foreign tours.

He also saw her spend long hours chatting on the internet with Bilawal. When he asked Hina about what was that made her spend long hours on the internet with Bilawal, his wife reportedly tried to convince him that she was discussing political and diplomatic issues with the president of PPP with the aim to enrich his knowledge.

The Blitz, which was the first to report the story, claims that Feorze was not convinced and tried to argue with Hina, to which she turned furious and warned him that she would leave him if he doesn’t change his attitude.

The seeds of the distrust between Hina and Gulzar were sown after Hina caught him having extra-marital affair with a female staffer in one of his business ventures, The Blitz claimed, adding that Hina was terribly shocked at the betrayal of her husband and had attempted to commit suicide by taking sleeping pills.

Hina also crossed swords with Bilawal’s father Zardari after he came to know about the contents of the romantic greetings card sent by his foreign minister to his son.

The Blitz says that the President immediately called Hina and expressed anger for her extra-marital affairs with his ‘minor son’, but Hina was unperturbed and replied in a harsh tone that Zardari was being mean and asked him to refrain from interfering in her personal affairs”.

When Bilawal came to know about his father’s rudeness towards his lady love, he threatened to leave the post of the chairman of PPP and leave the country by the end of the year. Hina would also resign by then and marry Bilawal, the report added.

The paper cited “western intelligence agencies” as the source of details of messages the ‘couple’ had sent each other.

Hina Rabbani Khar and her husband have dismissed the claims as “reprehensible” and “trash”, but they have been reported widely in Pakistan where they spawned conspiracy theories among Islamabad’s political classes.

Senior PPP figures on September 27 said they believed the claims were part of a plot by the country’s feared ISI agency to damage Rabbani Khar’s reputation because it blames her for her part in facilitating a UN investigation into thousands of missing people detained by the security forces.

One PPP official said that the ISI expects the United Nations’ Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances to recommend senior army and intelligence officials be charged for their role and blame Rabbani Khar for allowing the delegation into the country.

“They are not happy with her,” the official said. “The UN mission received a cold reception but Hina was called in by the president to meet him and the army chief. She crossed some red line.”

The government has not officially commented on the allegations.

Ms Rabbani Khar, the daughter of a powerful Punjab landowner, has been the subject of rumours concerning her private life since she first became a minister in General Musharraf’s government in 2004.

There was speculation then that she might marry the then prime minister Shaukat Aziz, but instead she married businessman Firoze Gulzar. She later stood as a PPP candidate in the 2008 elections and was appointed as finance minister in the new PPP-led government. She won many admirers for her stylish clothes and designer bags during her visit to India in 2011 where the two countries made significant progress in improving their relationship.

Yellow Journalism & An Immoral and Unethical Internet Attack on Khar

By William Gomes

Yellow journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury has recently propagated falsehood against Hina Rabbani Khar. He claims that Weekly Blitz is a tabloid newspaper published in Bangladesh every Wednesday but in reality it is not available in the market.

Yellow journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury has cheated many people among them two women who came in public and flashed his criminal face.

Brenda West wrote “Choudhury operates a shady website called Jethro Conglomerate, for which a scam alert has been posted by an organization that regulates the business dealings of the commodities Choudhury sells. (In case you are curious or are impressed with Choudhury’s interest in things Jewish, Jethro is the Hebrew word for Choudhury’s preferred moniker, Shoaib.)

Choudhury states on the Jethro Conglomerates website that he represents a company called Noca. Noca itself does not seem legitimate. It is not licensed. It provides no information about who owns or runs the company. The representatives they do list could be of interest to law enforcement. The Noca site says it is located in Canada but it gives an unpublished Nevada phone number. There is an odor of mobster activity connected with this enterprise, as well as Choudhury’s involvement in it. As we shall see in Choudhury’s published resume, Choudhury worked closely with the indicted mobster, Aziz Mohammed Bhai, who fled Bangladesh in 2009 to avoid imprisonment for various charges, including murder.”

Brenda West wrote “In June 2011 Tass (info@itar-tass.com) spokeswoman Lora Potopova confirmed in an email and subsequent phone conversation with this reporter that the wire service never had a bureau in Bangladesh, and had no record of employ for Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury — as a stringer or otherwise. Potopova reported that her thorough search of all Tass branches found no trace of Choudhury or a Tass office in Bangladesh. “

Using the banner of media outlet Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury is running his criminal business for years.

Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury has coined the falsehood. Weekly blitz is a part of a syndicate of Hindustan times. The propaganda was subsequently reported by Hindustan times and other India media

Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury became successful in his plan when it was published in India and then he started lobbying with the friends in Bangladeshi media to get it reported in different media outlets.

Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury is deliberately running this falsehood against Hina Rabbani Khar and Bilawal Bhutto to be discussed by international media to use that discussion for further criminal business.

William Nicholas Gomes
80/ B Bramon Chiron, Saydabad,
Dhaka-1203, Bangladesh.
Cell: +88 019 7 444 0 666
E-mail:William [at] williamgomes.org,editorbd[at]gmail.com
Skype: William.gomes9

“Mr Speaker, please stop this yellow taxi from leaving the House,” Muslim League MP Sheikh Rashid Ahmed called out, as the then prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, left her seat to go out of Parliament. Benazir, then in her first term as PM (1988-90) and clad in a yellow kamiz shalwar suit with her trademark white duppata over her head, did not bother to respond as she exited.

PPP workers were livid; they worshipped the very ground Benazir walked on, and called her ‘Bibi’ out of reverence. It is another story that later Rashid Ahmed was jailed for possession of unlicensed weapons. At least he was safe from diehard PPP supporters.

Earlier, during the election campaign, the Muslim League had resorted to a ‘dirty tricks’ campaign against Benazir and her mother Nusrat, where their photographs were printed in newspapers in a crude cut-and-paste job. The man who had orchestrated that campaign was Hussain Haqqani, the former Pakistan ambassador to the US.

As coarse attempts are being made to defame foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar and the PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, it is the irresponsible social media that appears to be carrying on a systematic campaign to this end.

Contrarily, latest photographs showing Khar and President Asif Ali Zardari talking relaxedly at the UN General Assembly sessions speak louder than the tasteless stories being bruited around.

The real issue is not about the Bhuttos or Khars. It is that if you are young, beautiful and a high-profile female politician in Pakistan, you are a soft target for sick minds and their ‘dirty tricks’ that seek to damage your  reputation. Social media helps turn malicious gossip into scandals that turn viral on the net. These stories, where no distinction is made between movie stars and politicians, sell internationally. There are even sites dedicated to “beautiful Pakistani female politicians”.

Young and glamorous women politicians in Pakistan have been hounded for years. If it is Khar today and Benazir in the past, ambassador Sherry Rehman, parliamentarian Kashmala Tariq, speaker of the National Assembly Fehmeda Mirza and several others continue to be mired in unwanted gossip. All of these women ignore the rumours and continue to have successful careers.

In fact, when Khar first came into the assembly, she refused to be put into a ‘zanana dabba’ or ‘special women’s compartment’. When asked by Newsline what she would do for women’s rights, an inexperienced Khar said, “My father got me elected from a general seat. In our country, both men and women have issues that need to be resolved. Neither have what you may consider basic rights—the right to clean drinking water, the right to enough water to irrigate their lands, the right to basic health and sanitation facilities, the right to educate themselves, the right to have access to electricity and roads. Let us please try to give them these rights and then we can talk about women’s rights and men’s rights.”

It is common sense that most voters who have reposed their faith in  women leaders in the region are uneducated and illiterate. But at no time have they ever stooped low and spread vile canards about them. Never have they shown such inclination to gossip or scandal.

“In fact, it is this post-modern era, with its high-tech social media, controlled and consumed by the educated and the so-called liberals, that is responsible for targeting high-profile women, whether they are in politics or in other fields. You will not see an ordinary party worker in Pakistan ever discussing such trash. Whether Benazir Bhutto, Indira Gandhi or Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the majority of their supporters were illiterate but had more grace than the class that goes around as the ‘educated’ today,” says TV host and columnist Nusrat Javeed.

Recently, another very young politician, Iman Hazir Mazari, daughter of the well known Dr Shireen Mazari, left Imran Khan’s Tehreek e-Insaf. Amongst other reasons for her resignation is her continuous, abusive hounding in the social media. Mazari is barely 20.

“One thing I have put up with for the past six months is abuse and character assassination. My self-respect and principles are more important to me than a party that continues to attack me. Being called a ‘prostitute’, or hearing/reading insults regarding my late grandfather by PTI workers is unacceptable. Yes, I wear what I want and I live my personal life the way I want to—that is between me and myself; no one…will ever have a right to comment on it. I will never make any apologies for the way I choose to live my personal life,” she wrote on her blog.

The ‘story’ involving Khar and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was first planted in an obscure Bangladeshi publication. Needless to say, the merely dressed up gossip  was handled in an unprofessional manner. No attempts were made to get the viewpoint of the subjects. The publication might have sold well, but in the process the publishers sacrificed and traduced all principles of journalism.

As expected, Indian publications and broadcast media picked the story up, as befits their obsession with Khar’s ‘glamorous looks’. In this case, the ‘glamour’ surrounding the gossip involving Khar and Bilawal was lapped up greedily, as both are highly saleable. It was the Indian media that went berserk over Khar’s looks, apparel and accessories when she visited New Delhi in July 2011.

However, in Pakistan itself, the report has been roundly rubbished. No newspaper or TV channel has touched it. They know fully that it is trash, and have treated it as such. The government so far has not even dignified it with a response. Khar has not only been the country’s youngest and first female foreign minister, but one of the successful ones at that. Her diplomacy and handling of her portfolio has been lauded in the corridors of power in various countries, whether Washington DC, Kabul or Berlin.

It is quite clear that these speculations started when Khar was in New York to represent Pakistan in the UN general assembly, and was designed to divert attention to her equation with Zardari, who is also there as head of state. It’s also significant that her visit as foreign minister comes at a very crucial point in Pakistan-US relations. Also, Khar has recently had a very successful trip to Berlin, and stole the thunder from her Indian counterpart in Islamabad during bilateral talks in early September.

On the eve of the general elections, political opponents know how such a scandal could damage Khar’s image in her conservative constituency. Pakistani foreign ministers have rarely returned to parliament, as they remain out of touch with voters due to constant travel. Khar had an advantage as her father, a seasoned parliamentarian, was doing much of the work at the ground level.

The History of Makhdooms of the Punjab Stink

According to a little heard news, the current Prime Minister of Pakistan, Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani has reportedly decided to drop the family prefix of Makhdoom from his name saying he wants to serve people and not be served by them. Gillani said the honorific “Makhdoom”, which means “one who is served” is no longer appropriate as he believes in serving the people.

Though the apparent unconditional sincerity in the Prime Minister’s resolve to ‘serve’ the Pakistani people is heart warming, yet a leopard cannot change his spots. By the end of this piece, the readers would know why the scribe spells Makhdoom as Makh-Doom.

Jallianwala Bagh is a garden in the northern Indian city of Amritsar.

On April 13, 1919, British Indian Army soldiers under the command of Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer opened fire on an unarmed gathering of men, women and children. The firing lasted for about 10 minutes. Shots were fired at the rate of 33 rounds per soldier. Official British Raj sources placed the fatalities at 379. According to private sources, however, there were over 1000 deaths, with more than 2000 wounded.Civil Surgeon Dr Smith indicated that there were over 1800 casualties.

Back in his headquarters, Dyer reported to his superiors that he had been “confronted by a revolutionary army,” and had been obliged “to teach a moral lesson to the Punjab.” In a telegram sent to Dyer, the then British Lieutenant-Governor ofPunjab, the author of the said massacre, Sir Michael O’Dwyer wrote:“Your action is correct. Lieutenant Governor approves.”

Nigel Collett, the writer of a new biography of Reginald Dyer, The Butcher of Amritsar said of Dyer: “As an Englishman, I cannot help but feel sorrow and shame at what he did…The massacre was the worst atrocity by a British officer ever recorded”.

Such was the sentiment of a British author about the gory crime carried out by the British soldiers. Given below is an old document to refresh the memories of the readers regarding the sentiments of the sons of the soil ofPunjab, the Makh-Dooms.

Taken from an Urdu column written by one Khalid Masood Khan, the referred document belongs to the beginning of the previous century.

The translation of this flowery text from Urdu language, marked by elaborate rhetoric and decorative details as it is, was a difficult task. The omissions and commissions, therefore, can safely be attributed to the scribe. More or less, though, this is how the text of the supplication goes:

A Prayer to His Highness Sir Michael Francis O’Dwyer CIE KCSI,

Lieutenant Governor Bahadur Punjab,

Your Excellency,

We the servants of the saints and clerics, along with the appropriate elites of our society ofWest Punjab, present to your esteemed self this humble entreaty.

We are sure that your Highness, whose nature is replete with fairness and blessings for the common, will hear us out giving us cause to be proud of our lowly selves.

Before any thing else, we congratulate your Honor that the terrible World War that began in your tenure has reached its logical end in your term of office. This majestic kingdom [of theBritish Empire] upon which the sun never used to set even before, has now come out ever stronger and illuminant.

It has won the war in as befitting a manner as the blessed tongue of our Emperor had promised it will. There is no doubt any more that the British sword went back into its scabbard only after truth became dominant and international freedom along with peace and welfare of smaller nations was ensured.

Your Highness’s era was a delicate one.

Punjabwas lucky to have for a ruler a strong man of your integrity and wisdom in those tumultuous times. Under your hallowed leadership, not only was peace maintained insidePunjab, but it also benefited in more sublime ways.

Under your gifted guidance,Punjabproved its loyalty to the empire [by providing soldiers to the British Imperial Army] and was awarded the proud title of ‘The Sword of the Kingdom’. Lady O’Dwyer, your life long companion and a symbol of womanhood, helped us untiringly in the matters of Red Cross and Indian women’s education earning our undying appreciation in the process. Please convey our heartfelt gratitude to Lady O’Dwyer.

When we see the miracles of telegraph, the building of colleges and universities for Indians, we in fact see the incomparable British justice at work in a Raj where the lion and the lamb drink from the same pond. We see nothing but benevolence all around us.

We know that the recent Martial Law was the result of some mischief mongers from among us. We in fact want to thank your Majesty that despite the Martial Law, Muslim sensitivities were duly addressed and our religious festivals were catered for. We are also aware that the Shahi Mosque [Lahore's central mosque] was being used for illegal political activities [by the freedom activists] and your Highness had to put a stop to that. We are forever grateful for that.

For us, the British Raj has proved to be a much awaited rain on a parched land. We are only being truthful when we say that even if we were to have endless lives, we would not be able to repay even a fraction of its favors and generosity. That is why, sir, we beseech you that when you go back to your country, please assure that great king of the British Empire that we his subjects, upon whom he has showered his untold blessings, will remain loyal to him until our deaths.

We are saddened that the inexperienced and young King of Afghanistan, Amir Amanullah Khan, has reneged on his treaties with theBritish Empire. This is in direct violation of the Quranic injunction “Fulfill your promises for you will be questioned about these in the hereafter”. It was indeed the British who strengthened the reign of Amir Amanullah Khan’ family over Afghanistan. He is being entirely ungrateful. We the people ofPunjabcannot forget the massacre and plunder of our lands by the Afghan hordes. We assure your Lordship that we look upon the Afghan King’s misdeeds with unreserved hatred.

We also wholeheartedly condemn those among us due to whose conspiracies Punjab was plunged into recent chaos and earned a black mark on its hitherto unblemished reputation. Your Excellency’s overpowering of these miscreants was only in the fitness of things. We assure your Highness that we loath them as much as their mad transgressions. Our Quran not only teaches us, “Don’t create mischief on earth” but also that, “Allah loves not the miscreants”.

Your Excellency, though your departure sunders our hearts, we take solace from the fact that your successor is none other than Sir Edward McLean. Every soul inPunjabknows of his qualities of head and heart. He will, we are sure, be a suitable heir to your venerated office. We welcome him from the cores of our hearts and assure him that just like the past; we will continue to prove our undying loyalty to the Raj.

The Signatories

(A long list of Makhdooms and Pirs of theWest Punjab)

Now if you are still not sickened enough at this brazen display of unashamed toadying of the Makh-Dooms to the author of Jallianwala Massacre, here is a current list of just some of these gentlemen sprinkled evenly across the two main political parties ofPakistan, thereby ensuring the continuous presence of a Makh-Doom in the ruling party.

# Makhdoom Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, the current Prime Minister of Pakistan, the great grand son of one of the lead signatories. (Yousuf’s father was Speaker of Pakistan’s National Assembly)

# Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Vice President of PTI, another great grand son of one of the lead signatories. (Mehmood’s father was once the Governor of Punjab)

# Makhdoom Syed Bashir Ahmed Shah Political leader affiliated with PPP, and former Food, Agriculture and Forests Minister of Pakistan during the Zulfikar Ali Bhutto regime.

# Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat, Pakistani politician affiliated with PML-Q, and former Interior Minister and current Housing Minister.

# Makhdoom Shahabuddin, Pakistani politician affiliated with PPP, and former Finance Minister.

# Makhdoom Muhammad Javed Hashmi, Pakistani politician, and central leader of PTI, a former Federal Minister for Health. (Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Group)

# Makhdoom Syed Akhtar Husain Shah, Pakistani Politician in affiliation with PPP, former Member Provincial Assembly Sindh.

# Makhdoom Muhammad Amin Fahim, Pakistani politician, and central leader of PPP (sweated hard to become the PM.

# Makhdoom Syed Ahmad Mehmood, Pakistani politician.

And here is a brief discussion on genetics from Wikipedia:

“Genetics is the study of how living things receive common traits from previous generations. Genes are passed on from parent to child and are an important part of not only how the child will look and behave, but will also determine what traits a whole family (such as the grandfather, great grandfather, etc.), will have.”

The result; lurching from crisis to crisis, gripping for dear life to sporadic achievements here and there, Pakistan stumbles on among the fraternity of nations.

To be honest, the Makh-Dooms are not alone in this sad saga. There are other charlatans galore. Of them, some other day.

Now reach for your sick bags.

End Note: On 13 March 1940, almost 21 years after the Jallianwala Bagh killings, a joint meeting of the East India Association and the Royal Central Asian Society was scheduled at Caxton Hall,London. Among the speakers was Michael O’Dwyer, the one time Lieutenant Governor of Punjab.

Also at the meeting was one Udham Singh, a freedom fighter who too was injured in the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. At the end of the meeting Singh calmly got up and shot O’Dwyer twice, killing him on the spot.

During his trial, when the court asked about his name, he replied “Ram Mohammad Singh Azad”, taking three names from the three main religions ofIndia, demonstrating the transcendence of his beliefs regarding race, caste, creed, and religion. On 31 July 1940, Ram Mohammed Singh Azad was hanged at Pentonville Prison.

He was buried later that afternoon within the prison grounds.

The Makh-Dooms live on.

Here is the long list of the signatories to our national shame:

1. Makhdoom Saddurudin Shah of Multan(the great grand father of our current Prime Minster)
2. Khan Bahadur Makhdoom Hassan Bakhsh of Multan (the great grand father of our current Foreign Minster)
3. Makhdoom Hassan Bakhsh Qureshi
4. Makhdoom Ghulam Qasim Sajjada Nasheen Khanqa
5. Makhdoom Muhammad-Al-Masnad Ayan
6. Nawab Hassan
7. Makhdoom Syed Hassan Ali
8. Syed Riazuddin Shah
9. Pir Ghulam Abbas Shah
10. Deewan Syed Muhammad Pak Patan
11. Mian Noor Ahmad Sajjada Nasheen
12. Pir Muhammad Rasheed
13. Sheikh Shahabuddin
14. Khan Bahadur Sheikh Ahmad
15. Syed Muhammad Hussain Shah of Sher Garh Zilla Montgomery
16. Makhdoom Sheikh Muhammad Rajoo of Multan
17. Deewan Muhammad Ghaus
18. Muhammad Mehr Ali Shah of Jalalpur
19. Pir Muhammad Khizr Hayat Shah
20. Sahebzada Muhammad Saaudullah of Sial Shareef
21. Syed Ghulam Muhayuddin Khalaf-ul-Rasheed
22. Mehr Ali Shah of Golra Shareef
23. Syed Qutb Ali Shah of Multan
24. Pir Chiragh Ali of Multan
25. Pir Nassiruddin Shah of Shahpur
26. Syed Nawazish Hussain Shah of Sher Garh Zilla Montgomery
27. Maulvee Ghulam Muhammad Khadim-e-Golra Shareef
28. Syed Fida Hussain Zila Campbelpur
29. Muhammad Akbar Shah of Shershah Multan
30. Ghulam Qassim Shah of Shershah Multan
31. Maulvee Syed Zainulabidin Shah of Multan
32. Pir Chiragh Shah of Kot Sidhana Jhang
33. Mehboob Alam Makhdoom Golra Shareef
34. Munshi Hayat Muhammad Golra Shareef
35. Burhannudin Khadim Golra Shareef

 

Benazir Was Colluding with Musharraf as She Appreciated the American Pressure on Him

by Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq

Professor Amin Mughal, in his remarkable paper, After Benazir Bhutto: Some reflections, read at a meet organised by the Campaign against Martial Law, Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS,London commented:

“I confess, in the least uncharitable terms, that I was never fond of Benazir Bhutto. In fact, I was inimical to her politics. In death, however, she has redeemed herself. In the imagination of the masses she has acquired a mystical significance that is destined to be a never-ending source of inspiration in their struggles ahead. Most authentic martyrs in history were reluctant to die. All of them were, however, prepared to accept death. Benazir went further. Her detractors have accused her of being foolhardy. That is not true. She only embraced what she had in the last days of her life come to perceive to be her destiny. Hers was an act of courage steeled in deliberation and schooled in the imagination. It matters who killed her, but what matters more is that she knew she would be gunned down. Had she escaped death that day, the suicide bombers would have done her in sooner than later. Yet, she decided to take the risk. Again, it matters whether she died of the gun wound or was later levered down into death. But what matters more is that she was there, facing a possible killer. She did not flinch”.  

This is perhaps the best tribute to Benazir Bhutto till today.

The act of great courage demonstrated by Benazir Bhutto praised by Amin Mughal and many others has changed the entire political scene of Pakistan for the worst. For resisting the agenda of forces of obscurantism—working on the dictates of neo-colonial masters—she lost her life. Her removal from the political scene paved the way for theUnited Statesto get rid of General Musharraf and install some elements more keen and willing to implement their agenda. Few analysts and scholars have tried to view her assassination from this perspective.

In her last book, Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy & the West, she “tried to trace the roots, causes, and potential solutions to the crisis within the Muslim world and the crisis between the Muslim World and the West”. Benazir, in this work has unveiled the agenda of neo-colonialists and the obscurantists. She has quoted extensively from the Quran to prove that Islam is a religion of peace, but it has been brutally abused by a handful of extremists throughout the Muslim history to create chaos and disorder. She traced the factors behind militant Islam and exposed the colonial and neo-colonial forces behind it. These views must have hit hard and annoyed the forces that want to keep the Muslim World in dark ages for their nefarious designs. They used their proxy—Islamic militants—to get rid of her.

In the wake of her brutal and ruthless assassination—still shrouded in mystery—there was great euphoria among Pakistani liberals over the presumed ‘return to democracy’. Dr  Sachithanandam Sathananthan, a Visiting Research Scholar at the Jawaharlal Nehru University School of International Studies, in his paper, The Great Game Continues, noted with concern that “they are yet to discover ‘Late Neo-colonialism’.  He argues that removal of Benazir and thereafter, easily maneuvered victory for Zardari in the presidential election “brought to ahigh pointthe tortuous process of regime change inPakistan. Anyone who has followed the ‘colour revolutions’ that installed pro-American rulers in Georgia (Rose Revolution, 2003),Ukraine(Orange Revolution, 2004) andKyrgyzstan(Tulip Revolution, 2005) could surely not have missed the tell tale signs”.

The theory propounded by Dr. Sachithanandam got credence in the wake of events took place after the assassination of Benazir. It was rightly highlighted by Dr. Sachithanandam that “the earliest foreboding surfaced in the backroom manoeuvres by theUSand British intelligence services to engineer panic about the security ofPakistan’s nuclear assets. It was a repeat of the duplicitous hysteria they generated over non-existent weapons of mass destruction thatIraqallegedly possessed. A carefully worded article, co-authored by former State Department officials Richard L. Armitage and Kara L. Bue, signalled the shift inUS policy. After formally acknowledging the then President Musharraf’s many achievements, the authors continued: ‘much remains to be accomplished, particularly in terms of democratization.Pakistan must…eliminate the home-grown jihadists…And…it must prove itself a reliable partner on technology transfer and nuclear non-proliferation.’ And the denouement: ‘We believe General Musharraf…deserves our attention and support, no matter how frustrated we become at the pace of political change and the failure to eliminate Taliban fighters on the Afghan border.’ Translation: Musharraf has to go”.

It was ‘Washington’s renewed interest’ in Zardari and Rehman Malik and not Benazir that forced Musharraf—once a close ally of Bush—to offer firm opposition to US Late Neo-colonialism to ravage Pakistan. According to Dr. Sachithanandam, “politically challenged Pakistani liberals — a motley crowd that includes members of human rights and civil liberties organisations, journalists, analysts, lawyers and assorted professionals — are utterly incapable of comprehending the geo-strategic context in which Musharraf maneuvered to defend Pakistan’s interest”. So they slandered him an ‘American puppet’, alleging he caved in to US pressure and withdrew support to the Afghan Taliban regime in the wake of 9/11 although in fact “he removed one excuse for the Bush Administration to ‘bomb Pakistan into stone age’, as a senior State Department official had threatened”.

In view of above, it is understandable why Benazir decided to join hands with Musharraf to resist US Late Neo-colonialism. American discomfort with Musharraf’s government was palpable by late 2003, after he dodged committing Pakistani troops to prop up the Anglo-American invasion ofIraq. When he offered to cooperate under the auspices of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), naïve Pakistani media and analysts lunged for his jugular, condemning him once again for succumbing to US demands. But in fact he nimbly sidestepped American demands: he calculated that diverse ideological stances of the 57 Muslim member-counties would not allow the OIC to jointly initiate such controversial action and thereforePakistan’s participation could not arise, which proved correct.

Benazir was fully aware of the fact that Bush Administration had been becoming increasingly hostile to Musharraf’s determination to prioritise Pakistan’s interests when steering the ship of the state through the choppy waters of the unfolding New Great Game, which the West — led by the US — has been manoeuvring to contain growing Russian and Chinese influences in Central and West Asia. She decided to work with Musharraf, precisely for resisting this agenda of Pakistan-hostile forces. She became the prime target of these forces and was hence eliminated.

Since then events show and prove that under the “chosen” leadership,Pakistanwould side with US and Britain. Benazir became victim of this Great Game in which her own party stalwarts betrayed her.  Hers has been a legacy of continuous struggle. Pakistanis need to continue her legacy of resisting the ongoing Great Game of US Late Neo-colonialism—controlling South Asian region through the bogey of Islamic militants and Hindu extremism with the ultimate aim of containingChinaand getting hold of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenals.

Matchless Services to the Nation

By Sarmad Tariq-@Sarmadtariq.com

Now that the university of Karachi has conferred an honorary doctorate degree on Mr. Rehman Malik (Now Dr. Rehman Malik) for his “matchless services to the country in the war on terror and particularly in restoring peace to citizens of Karachi,” I suggest that the following people should also be immediately bestowed with such honorary degrees because after all, justice delayed is justice denied.

1. Meera for her “matchless services to the English language in the war of errors and thus taking revenge from the goras who ruined our languages during their rule.”

2. Dr. Amir Liaqat Hussain for his “matchless services to religion and particularly in exposing the gullibility of innocent Pakistanis.”

3. Veena Malik for her “topless…I mean matchless services to….now what was his name….I keep forgetting…. in the war of the ……you get the point, don’t you!”

4. Sahir Lodhi and his sister for their “matchless services to the country’s people in the war on common sense and particularly for restoring hope to all those who wanted to be on TV but thought their lack of talent wouldn’t allow them.”

5. Muhammad Asif, Muhammad Amir and Salman Butt for their “services during the match to the fixers in the war on fair play and particularly for restoring Pakistan’s image as cheaters.”

6. Firdous Ashiq Awan for her “matchless services to science in the war on intelligence and particularly for discovering the deep link between holidays and population growth.”

7. Asif Ali Zardari for his “matchless services to himself in the war on Pakistanis and particularly for helping the people realize that whatever their condition, something worse is always possible.”

8. Nawaz Sharif for his “matchless services to Asif Ali Zardari in the war of confusion and particularly for setting the world record for most U turns in one term.”

9. The top News channels for their “matchless services to the nation in the war on truth and particularly for breaking news and journalism with a single blow.”

Zulfiqar Mirza is an Evil Man Exploiting the Anti Mohajir Sentiments Among the Sindhis

The whole of Pakistan knows that MQM does not consist of angels and that Altaf Husain is not an innocent bystander. However, neither is Zulfiqar Mirza. He may be involved in as many murders as Altaf Husain if not more and may even be involved in more heinous crimes like womanzing, sponsoring mujrahs, drug trafficking, land grabbing, extorting money and kidnapping. A person who is capable of doing all these or any of them will have no qualms in lying under the Holy Quran’s oath. Accordingly, the statements made under the Quran are neither here nor there. Incidentally, it is a daily occurrence in the Pakistani courts where both parties take oath under the Quran and the judge then disregards both the oaths and decide the case on merits.

Mirza actually is feeling frustrated because he has been removed from the Home Ministry. This is the bottom-line and the matter is as simple as that. It is not a conspiracy hatched by the ISI, army or Zardari. It is a guy who is getting even with the MQM for getting him removed.

Rehman Malik has come in the cross-fire because he did not stop the operation in Lyari and Mirza’s goondas came under fire. He looked powerless before his own henchmen and he is trying to show his muscle to them.

The sad part is the moral and intellectual bankruptcy by the way it is giving Mirza unnecessary coverage and the way Mirza is exploiting the anti Mohajir sentiment among the Sindhis.

The Sindhis do not like the Mohajirs as the latter are superior intellectually and economically to the Sindhis. Instead of working hard to catch up, the Sindhis are going for the shorter and easier route to pull the Mohajirs down. This is now going to solve the problem.

The Mohajirs cannot go anywhere and are in Sindh forever. The two communities will learn to live together just like the whites and blacks have learnt in the West and the way the Brits are now living with the Indians and Pakistanis. If they can, why cant the Sindhis and the Mohajirs. Both the communities are Muslims and on the basis of two nation theory they should live like brothers.

The Sindhi national sentiment is acute and it is partly exacerbated by the anti Mohajir feeling. However, Sindhi national parties do not perform well and PPP compensates for the loss of the nationalist parties by taking a similar anti Mohajir feeling at least in the interior Sindh; it has to be discreet in this respect as it also has a sizeable presence among the Mohajirs in Karachi.

If PPP throws Mirza out, he would be in the wilderness. He would woo the nationalist parties or even try to form his own party. But he will fade away. He is history now…………….

 

Who was Hakim Ali Zardari?

Zardari from the Persian compound meaning “Holder of Money” or “Wealthy”, is a Sindhi speaking tribe of Baloch origin also known as Sindhi Baloch.

Historically Zardari tribe was settled in the province of Sindh from Balochistan. Over the years the Zardari tribe gradually lost their native language “Balochi” and adopted Sindhi as their first language.

Some of the Zardari tribe are bilingual speak both Balochi and Sindhi especially those who resides in the provinceof Sindh. It is estimated almost 40% of Sindhis of Pakistan are of Baloch origin. The Zardaris are largely Shia Muslims.

Hakim Ali Zardari was born in 1930. He is a landlord and agriculturist of Nawabshah District. His father’s name is Muhammad Hussain Zardari. His grand father’s name is Sajawal Khan Zardari.

His grand father Sajawal Zardari was also in politics in the period of British rule over PakIndia. Hakim Ali Zardari also took part in politics and was elected as Member District Council Nawabshah in the start of his political career. He was elected as Member National Assembly (MNA) on PPP ticket from in General Election 1970. He resigned from PPP due to differences from some party office bearers and joined Awami National Party (ANP).

He contested in non-party based General Election 1985 in the period of General Ziaul Haq but he could not succeed.

Hakim Ali Zardari started his political career in 1965 when he was elected as the member of District Council Nawabshah and later elected as the Vice President of the Divisional Council. During the period he played key role in the development of Nawabshah and the people of the city still remembered his services in this respect.

After Bhutto’s death, Zardari had a rift with the local leadership of PPP and left the party to join the National Democratic Party (NDP), an off shoot of the National Awami Party that had been banned by the government. Because of his good relations with Wali Khan, he was made the president of NDP. The party was subsequently restructured under the name of Awami National Party.

During Presidential Election 1965, Hakim Ali Zardari supported Fatima Jinnah against the then President Ayub Khan and after termination of the latter’s government, he joined PPP in 1970 as one of its founder members. He was elected as the President of Zardari tribe in a convention held in Latif Hall Nawabshah the same year.

The Bhuttos of Larkana

Sad to See Salman Taseer Go

Salman Taseer was killed on Jan 4, 2011 in the most posh market of Islamabad by his own guard, one Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, just like Indira Gandhi. God knows what was he doing there.

He was a good and a bold man. And a successful man. He was partner in the leading chartered accountancy firm which still retains his name: Taseer Hadi & Co. He had an affair with a leading Indian journalist, Tavleen Singh and had a son from her; one wonders if they ever got married.

He all along was associated with the PPP and became dormant during the Musharraf days; probably fell into Benazir’s bad books but came into the lime-light when Musharraf made him a minister and then the Governor of Punjab on May 15, 2008. He again became a jiyala and apparently developed quite a close relationship with Zardari.

He made lots of money through a Call Card company which he later sold.

It seems that he was killed due to his visiting the Christian woman, Aasia Noreen, on November 20, 2010, accused of blasphemy and who presently is herself fighting against the death sentence. She says the charges are false and Salman Taseer while visiting her in jail promised her that she would be set free by Zardari.

Noreen, 45-years old and a resident of the Muslim village of Ittawali in the Punjab province, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani court for allegedly defaming Prophet Muhammad under blasphemy law Section 295-C of Pakistan Penal Code.

Salman Taseer got a clemency petition signed by her which he later presented to President Zardari. He was vocal on blasphemy laws and called them black law. The Islamic religious groups condemned Taseer and demanded for his immediate removal. In addition, a fundamentalist Islamic party issued apostasy decree against Taseer. On Dec. 31, the Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Namoos-e-Risalat asked for the dismissal of Salman Taseer as governor.

The assassin Qadri said in his initial statement that he killed Taseer because of his views on Islamic blasphemy laws and  visiting Aasia Noreen and declaring her innocent.

He obviously under-estimated the strength of the religious elements in Pakistan. This is the saddest and most tragic part about his death: he died in vain. Like every Muslim, he never intended to insult the Prophet; which Muslim in his right mind will ever think of doing such a thing. He was simply making a liberal statement while visiting the Christian woman and ended up paying for his life. Sherry Rehman should now be careful as she has also presented a private member’s bill proposing changes in the blasphemy law.

Such mentality is a sorry state of affairs and a sad reflection on our emotional state. The level of tolerance is now almost non-existent and how can the people of Pakistan speak up when the opposite religious side takes the extreme step of killing the opponent. Democracy cannot flourish in such an environment.

The present religious tilt in our polity is General Zia’s gift to us but it is the fault of all the rulers who have ruled this country since his death that they have played on the religious wicket and have consistently failed to secularize our society or at least lower the religious fervor in the country. Instead, the rulers have simply concentrated in making money and have seldom cared about the State or its people.

Who is going to be our savior?

No one is going to even trust their guards now, least of all the foreigners, the diplomats and the foreign dignitaries visiting us.

Did ZA Bhutto Date Madhubala?

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto: Few know that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto lived both in India and Pakistan until late 1950s. 

Bhutto was a rich man and owned lots of real estate in Mumbai at that time. He also owned a sprawling mansion named as My Nest at Bandra, Mumbai which was later confiscated by Indian Government during the 1965 Indo-Pak War along with his other assets in Mumbai. 

In 1950s, Bhutto used to visit the sets of Mughal-e-Azam in Mumbai studios just to see Madhubala. 

Especially, on the sets when the song Mohe Panghat Pe Nandlal Ched Gayo Re was being picturized, Bhutto was present and he was completely mesmerized by the song composition and the picturization. Maestro Music Director Naushad was also present at the time of this picturization and Bhutto complimented Naushad Saab for composing such a melodious song based on RagaPilu. 

Bhutto was considered a special guest of Madhubala. 

Madhubala liked Bhuttos charm. 

Sometimes they used to have lunch together and Bhutto used to make her laugh with his wit. 

In those days Bhutto used to live at Worli, Mumbai and used to practice law as a barrister in Mumbai High Court. However, Bhutto was not part of Mumbai’s film world. Bhutto was obsessed with Madhubala’s beauty. He used to come to the sets of Mughal-e-Azam and used to sit in the studio for hours watching Madhubala. But Bhutto had already wedded Shirin Begum, daughter of a rich landlord of Larkana, and was also married to Nusrat, an attractive young Irani girl (mother of Benazir Bhutto). 

As a result Bhutto used to shuttle between Larkana and Karachi. And now with Madhubala in mind, he started three-way shuttle to Larkana, Karachi and Mumbai. But Bhutto had different plans. 

In the meantime, he had decided to plunge in Pakistani politics and left Mumbai for good to settle down permanently in Sind. Thus Anarkali Madhubala could not become the first lady of Pakistan 

Exact relationship between Madhubala and Bhutto remains shrouded in mystery. Only Madhubala’s diary could have thrown some light on this subject. However, her diary was buried by her father with Madhubala in her grave. 

After the break up with Dilip Kumar, Madhubala already knew from her doctors that she had a severe heart ailment and she would not survive too long. She realized that during her last phase of life, she definitely needed some company. And she thought of Kishore Kumar who was her hero in the film Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi. She thought probably Kishore Kumar will give her stability if she married him.

Future Version of Mobile Balance Recharge Under the PPP Government

TID: 99283768594032

you have recharge Rs:300

Deduction of VAT 25%

Zardari Tax 15 %

benazir income support 10 %

wapda tax 20 %

GST  17 %

Government support fund 5 %

bilawal study tax 6%

bakhtawar jehez tax 1.5 %

new balance Rs 1.50

expiry date 9-11-2011