An Unusual King

The king was ornate with gold and silver. He looked ludicrous with all this metal on his body. Standing on the precipice, he was about to commit suicide. Neither his capacious palace came to his help nor did his sanctimonious orders have the might to bear the tumult of the impoverished people. He did try to ameliorate the standard of living of the commoners, but to no avail.

The people considered him impious, as he had desecrated the holy temples in the region. The nation was highly orthodox, and wasn’t ready to exonerate the king for this act. It had ossified it’s believe about him, and suggested to truncate his head. Many people were lukewarm about this idea. The people's leader precluded this idea and the people capitulated to his command.

The king was a lummox with a big tummy. He ate luscious mangos while his despondent nation slept hungry. The hunger had turned them into a sanguinary beast, who wanted the ousted king to be like his predecessor. This indifference was inadvertent from the king; he was a tyro in administrating people. He had appointed honourable chiefs from amongst the nation to take care of the people. Few of them were expatriates, but in general, they were amiable locals. The chiefs used to practice exorcism. They mostly answered impromptu to the public that was suffering from turpitude of necessities. The king had sanctioned grants for the well being of the nation, but mostly it got into the hands of these corrupt chiefs. The precocious chiefs knew how to handle the nation, but the King failed to comprehend this.

The chiefs would recite some incantation to drive the people fool. They would castigate the evil demons, lynched people by declaring them blasphemers, incarcerate thieves and wrong-doers, and sometimes deter punishment for the poor to show their power. This culture of 'discipline and punishment' was ubiquitous. This drama made an illusion of expedite justice. It acted as a Catharsis in an overwrought society where unalloyed misery sardonically grappled their daily lives. Preeminent nobles played with the commoner’s faith through religio-political machination.

Such caustic cacophony had made the people amorphous. They had lost self-confidence, and were forced to visit these chiefs even for petty reasons. They used to extol them, begged them for analgesics, incessantly worshipped such prescient Savants, and magnanimously gave charity to these demigods. This practice was analogous to the Egyptian cults where only the mighty had the prerogative of being praised. Analogous to the Egyptians, the poor was born to die.

Meanwhile, the King scaled to the top in a cavalcade. There, he gave a poignant speech:

"O my nation! I was always a scapegoat, and now I'm going to die. I always had this presentiment. Today, I want to give a small message to you all: I can't underscore the importance of justice for a nation. It is the only palliative to anarchy. It is the only palliative to stop devoured and magnates from committing excess. Extradite all evil-doers! Don't incline towards your chiefs! And foster amity between yourselves!"

With this the King plummeted from the cliff.

Book Review: Tahrekh ki Daryaaft

Discovering History by
Dr. Mubarak Ali

Publisher: Dost Publishers
ISBN: 978-969-496-352-5


Tahreek ki Daryaaft (Discovering History) is a collection of several essays written by Dr. Mubarak Ali. The book is divided into two parts.

The first part discusses different methods of interpreting history in the twentieth century. It also discusses the concept of hero worship; how heroes are created, and once they are used up, how they are metamorphosed or put down by the state. It also discussed the significance of historiography in Urdu language. It discusses about different translations done in this language, and how Urdu historians have interpreted history in different eras in the sub-continent.

The second part covers a broader subject area. It discusses about different aspects of Mughal rule, the relationship between Ottomans and Mughals, robes in Mughal court, White Mughal of Delhi, Akbar the Great. Besides, it also discusses history of basic goods like coal and coffee. The author also presents a short essay on The History of Smile. There are essays on imperialism and its affects, the role of clergy, tragedy of Indian Muslims, Indus civilization to more Sindh, and also an essay on the French Revolution.

The primary purpose of the book is to present new perspectives on history. Hence, Dr. Ali reviews more than three dozen books and some research papers. The purpose is to bring history to the commoners. It tries to explain how diverse the subject of history has become in our modern age. Today history doesn't mean only memoirs, diaries, scared literature, and King's speech. The subject of history also incorporates sociology, psychology, paleontology, and empiricism. Historians today also interpret history as a class struggle. Some deliberately view it with a prejudice, for example, European historians rectify Indian colonization because they thought the only civilized race is the European race, it is the duty of the Europeans to teach civility to the world. This is the interpretation of history from a European point of view. Likewise, in India, we see different religious prejudice in writing history. There are different interpretations available on Mughal rule in India, based on who is writing it down. 

The writing style is informative and lucid. The author has consciously kept the language as easy as possible; otherwise there is a tendency in Pakistan intellectuals to make thinks look more difficult than they really are. Furthermore, as the book is a collection of essays, it is readable for academia and students alike. It's not like an ordinary history book that goes on for infinite, making the subject of history boring and a waste of time. Each essay an average is four to five pages long, but very comprehensible.

Meanwhile, the book neither has a bibliography nor an end Index. This makes referencing to a specific topic difficult. As the book is mainly a collection of criticism and appreciation of different historical work, a bibliography was a necessary requirement.  

یار پیٹر ہگس ہم سے سیکھو۔۔۔۔

پروفیسر پیٹر ہگس

آج کل دنیا میں 'ہگس ذرہ' موضوع بحث بنا ہوا ہے۔ ماہرینِ طبعیات کا کہنا ہے کہ یہ ذرہ کائنات کے چھپے رازوں کو سمجھنے میں مدد فراہم کرے گا، مثلاً یہ کے معادے میں وزن کہاں سے آتا ہے؟ اور چاند، ستارے، سیارے، کہکشائیں، کیسے آپس میں جڑی رہتی ہیں۔ یورپ کی خبروں سے ایسا معلوم ہوتا ہے شاید یہ بہت ہی بڑی پیش کوئی رفت ہو۔ آپ چاہیں ڈیوچے ویلا دیکھ لیں یا سی-این-این سن لیں، ہر چینل اس کو ایک بہت بڑے 'بریک تھرو' سے مماثلت دے رہا ہے۔ آخری بار اس قسم کی میڈیا کوریج سائنس کو جب دی گئی تھی جب آنسٹائن کے نظریوں کے صحیح یا غلط ہونے پر بحث چھڑی تھی۔ یہ بحث بھی کئی دن چلی، اور آخر میں معلوم ہوا کے تجربہ کرنے والے کی اپنی غلطی تھی جس وجہ سے نتیجہ غلط نکلا، نہ کہ آنستائنکا فرمولا غلط ہو۔

مگر دوسری طرف ان خبروں کو پاکستان میں زیادہ اہمیت نہیں دی گئی۔ ظاہر ہے، پاکستانیوں کے لیے پیٹر ہگس اور آنسٹائن معمولی لوگ ہیں۔ بچارے ٹائم ضائع کرتے ہیں۔ چاہیے تو یہ تھا کہ ایک اسمارٹ فون خریدتے اور زندگی کا لطف اٹھاتے۔ یا فیس بک جوائن کرلیتے۔ فیس بک پر برقے کی اہمیت، اسلام کی سربُلندی، اور عورت کی شریعی احیاء کے دستوروں پر ہی کچھ شئیر کرکے ثواب کما لیتے۔ چاہیے تو یہ تھا کہ ایس-ایم-ایس کا نائٹ پیکج آن کرکے رمضان شروع ہونے سے بیس دن پہلے سے 'رمضان ایڈوانس مبارک' کے پیغمات بھیجتے، یہ کوئی حدیث شئیر کرتے یہ کسی بڑے بزرگ کا کوئی قول۔ بلکہ یہ تو بہت ذہین لوگ ہیں، ان کو تو شاید ۲۰۱۴،۲۰۱۵، اور قیامت تک آنے والے تمام رمضانوں کی ایڈوانس مبارکباد بھیجنی چائیے تھی۔ اور اگر نقاب پر انتا زور دیتے جتنا فیس بک پر نظر آتا ہے، تو فزکس کی قسم! تمام عورتیں، باوسیلہ فیس بک نقاب پوش ہوجاتیں۔ اب دیکھو فرانس میں ۲،۰۰۰ نقاب پوش عورتوں کے لیے شور مچتا ہے، لیکن جن ہزاروں عورتوں پر پاکستان میں ظلم ہوتا ہے، اس پر کوئی بات نہیں ہوتی۔

پیڑ ہگس، تم نے تو اتنی تحقیق کرکے بس اتنی سی بات معلوم کی ہے۔ یار! فیس بک استعمال کرو۔ ہر چیز کے لیے مذہنی تاویل تم کو مل جائے گی، چائے بیگ بانگ ہو، انسان کا پیدا ہونا ہو، گرانڈ یونیفکیشن(Grand Unification) کا نظریہ ہو، بگ کرانچ(Big Crunch) کی بات ہو، غرض کے کوئی بھی سائنسی نظریہ ہو، فیس بک پر ہر بات کی کوئی اسلامی تاویل مل جائے گی۔ بھاڑ میں جائے یہ نوبل پرائز، بھاڑ میں جائے طبعیات، بھائی فیس بک پر آو اور ہم سے سیکھو!

چلو آنسٹائن کے زمانے میں نیٹ ایجاد نہیں ہوا تھا ، پر پیٹر ہگس! تم ۸۳ سال کے ہوگئے ہو تم کو یہ بات سمجھ کیوں نہیں آئے؟ ابھی تو بہت بڑے بڑے کام باقی ہیں، تم کن دو دو روپے کی چیزوں میں وقت ضائع کررہے ہو۔ مجھے تو برہمن نسل پاکستانیوں نے بتایا ہے کہ جس کام میں پیسہ نہ ہو وہ بکار ہے۔ اب پیڑ تم یہ ذرے کس دکان پر بیچو گے، میں تم نہیں خرید رہا!!! ہاہاہاہا

اور یہ ایٹم کیا ہوتا ہے؟ اصل چیز تو ایٹم بم ہے، میرے پاس تو بہت سارے ہیں، تمھارے پاس کتنے ہیں؟ تم بس ان ذروں کے چکر میں پڑے رہو! ہم پاکستانیوں سے ہی کچھ سیکھ لو۔ کیا تمھاری تحقیق سے کوئی نیا اسلحہ بن سکتا ہے؟ کیا ہم ہگس ذرے سے زیادہ لوگوں کو مار سکتے ہیں؟ کیا افواج کو اس کا فائدہ ہے؟ اگر ان سب سوالوں کا جواب نفی میں ہے ، تو مجھے مسڑ بہت افسوس ہے کہ تمھاری تحقیق میرے کسی کام کی نہیں۔

یار آنسٹائن ہم تو ہٹلر کے برابر کے لوگوں ہیں۔ ہماری یہاں بھی روز قتل ہوتا ہے، روز معصوم لوگ مرتے ہیں۔ پرسوں ہی ہم نے ایک آدمی کو زندہ جلادیا، کل ہم نے تربت سے ایران جانے والی گاڑی پر حملہ کردیا، آج ہم نے کراچی میں تین لوگوں کو مار دیا۔ چلو ہٹلر سے مقابلہ نہ صحیح، لیکن ہٹلرِ ثانی تو ہم بھی ہیں نا۔ اب تم ڈرو مت، ہم نے کل روس کو مار بھگایا، آج آمریکہ ہار رہا ہے۔

تو مسڑ ہگس، آپ پاکستان کب آرہے ہیں؟

4th April 1979 — The day Justice was hanged

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto applauding in a public rally. Source: The Friday Times

5 July 1977 was the date when Zia toppled the elected government of Pakistan. This day marks the beginning of a destined end. An end to democracy, an end to free thought, an end to freedom, and an end to  practising religion freely. Some great stories place the end at the beginning, while the beginning comes at the end of the book. The 1977-1979 drama is best understood in this manner —  a dictator came into power with the destined goal to end democracy and to rule the country till the last day!

***

Years ago BBC URDU published an article elucidating the paradoxical nature of the 1973 constitution. The website wrote that the 1973 constitution is the only social contract in world history through which the creator himself was hanged by a military usurper. In other words, the assassination of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was constitutional back in 1979. Today, in the light of the 1973 constitution, the Supreme Court is trying to prove Bhutto's hanging a judicial murder. It cannot get more paradoxical than this!

There are many aspects to Bhutto's hanging. Some deal with provincial prejudice, yet other aspects cover the military lust for power. Some regard Bhutto's hanging as capitalist conspiracy. Unfortunately, in-depth research had never taken place on this historical incident which has made Bhutto assignation a myth in itself.

Provincial Prejudice in Bhutto's Assassination

The constitutional bench which heard Bhutto's case was overwhelmed by Punjabi speaking judges. Bhutto being a Sindhi had to face an inherently baised Punjabi judiciary. The empirical evidences available do prove the supreme court bench had a Punjabi majority. The final supreme court bench included the following nine judges:

1) Chief Justice Sayeed Anwar ul Haq (Punjab)  

2) Mr. Justice Mohd. Akram (Punjab) 

3) Mr. Justice Naseem Hasan Shah (Punjab)

4) Mr. Justice Darab Patel (Balochistan) 

5) Mr. Justice Mohd. Haleem (Sindh) 

6) Mr. Justice  Safdar Shah (KPK) 

7) Mr. Justice Qaisar Khan (KPK) 

8) Mr. Justice Karam Elahi Chohan (Punjab)

9) Mr. Justice Waheedud-din Ahmed  (Urdu-speaking Sindhi)

(See: Z A Bhutto's Judicial Murder (1979), Daily Times (Monday, April 04, 2011))

The Supreme Court proceeding lasted for more than eight months. During this period,  Mr. Justice Waheedud-din Ahmed retired due to his age, and Mr. Justice  Qaisar Khan  left the bench due to prolonged illness. If the court had decided Bhutto's verdict before the retirement of Waheedud-din Ahmed, Bhutto would had won the case by 5-4. Unfortunately, this never happened. 

The truncation of two judges created a Punjabi majority in the bench. All Punjabi speaking judges formed an anti-Bhutto alliance, hence legitimizing Gen. Zia's marital law in the country. Bhutto lost the case by a close margin —  4 to 3. All non-Punjabi judges allied with Bhutto, but to no avail. 

Many Sindhis find Bhutto's trial as an anti-Sindhi trial by the Punjabis. They have empirical evidence to prove their point of view. Why wasn't Bhutto initially tried in Sindh High Court? Why did the final bench took a long time to pass its verdict? Why was there a Punjabi majority on the bench? Why wasn't a Punjabi judge sent home on the basis of illness? These questions cause havoc in the minds of Sindhis who support PPP's ideology. Why do the smaller provinces of Pakistan suffer from the hand of Punjab? Why does Punjab has an upper hand in all national, financial, and strategic decisions? Some of these questions are resolved, while some still need answers. 

On the otherhand, a counter Punjabi narrative also exists. This narrative tries to proof that Punjabis weren't just in the supreme court bench; they were also present in the habeas corpus petition filed by Bhutto's wife, Mrs. Nusrat  Bhutto. J.C. Batra in his book The Trial and Execution of Bhutto gives a list of Bhutto's companion in the SCP : (For the list see page 24 of the book)

From the Punjab four, namely,  

(1) Sheikh Mohmmad. Rashid, Vice-Chairman, PPP;  

(2) Dr. Ghulam Hussain, Secretary General of PPP;  

(3) Mr. Khalid Malik, Secretary General of PPP, Punjab branch;  

(4) Mr. Hayat Mohammad. Khan Taman.  

From Sindh two  

(5) Mr. Abdul Hafiz Peerzada; and  

(6) Mr. Mumtaz Ali Bhutto.  

From Baluchistan  

(7) Mr. Ghaus Bux Rasisani.  

From the N.W.E.P. three, namely,  

(8) Mr. Iqbal Mohammad Jadoon;  

(9) Mr. Nasrulla Khan Khattak; and  

(10)Mr. Humayun Seifullah Khan

As we can observe, 40% of the list is Punjabi dominated, while their are only 20% Sindhis. Claiming Punjabis as a monolithic body against Bhutto is not a very strong argument. If all Punjabis hated Bhutto, how come 4 Punjabis were on Bhutto's petition? These Punjabis risked their lives against the a military despot. Similar to Sindhis, they also wanted democracy to prosper in the country. Therefore, alleging Punjabis to be an anti-Bhutto hegemony is a weak argument.

Military Lust for Power

There is no doubt in the argument that Zia-ul-Haq wanted to oust democracy. He wanted to remain the head of the nation forever. Bhutto was the greatest threat, and his elimination had become obligatory for his plan. Whenever Bhutto came out of jail, millions of people used to hail him. It was only in the last days, when due to military brutalisation and censorship people were locked inside their homes. Bhutto was becoming popular with the passage of time. an imprisoned Bhutto was more dangerous to Zia's game plan than a living Bhutto. Gen. Zia even thought of deporting Z.A Bhutto, but feared his return back to Pakistan might have repercussions similar to Ayatullah Khomini's return in Iran (See: Preface of If I'm Assassinated by Z.A. Bhutto). The only way to ossify all these threats was to minus Bhutto from the power equation. Zia played his cards well, and finally Bhutto was hanged on the 4th of April 1979.

In a BBC interview, the world renowned socialist Tariq Ali made an apt comment: 

“Bhutto was a brave man, Zia was cunning.... There was one grave and two candidates. It was either Bhutto or (Gen) Zia and since (Gen) Zia had the whip hand he got rid of Bhutto before ZAB could get him"

Tariq Ali also wrote a drama on the tragic death of Bhutto for BBC. It was titled 'The Leopard and the Fox', where Bhutto was the leopard due to his courage while the clever Gen. Zia was symbolized as the fox. Unfortunately, the drama wasn't ever publicised on BBC because of fund limitations.

On the other hand, it was an unethical decision by ZAB to promote Zia-ul-Haq while there where many generals above him. ZAB made this decision on the premise that it will be easier to control Zia compared to senior generals in the Pakistan Army. This decision later costed Bhutto his life. Hasan Abbass has aptly discussed Zia's promotion episode in his book, Pakistan's Drift into Extremism.

A Capitalist Conspiracy

Bhutto emerged as a defining figure in the third world. His charisma was unmatched, his choice of words was out of this world. Bhutto had a magnetic field around him, attracting influential figures into his domain. Bhutto challenged Capitalism by his nationalisation policy. He built government sponsored RHU (Rural Health Units) and BHU (Basic Health Units) challenging private healthcare. He went on to strengthen Pakistan's relationship with Soviet Union. In the second OIC held in Lahore, personages like Shah Fasial, Ghaddafi, and Bhutto devised a plan for setting up an Islamic Solidarity Fund which would help Muslim country to stand on their own feet (See RESOLUTION No. 6/2-1S). Bhutto vehemently denounced the US hegemonic policies and called her "The White Elephant". Yet another major development was the initiation of Pakistan nuclear program, which finally led to the creation of atomic bomb.

All these activities did challenge the capitalism of his time. In the 1970s, the world was bi-polar. Soviet Union and USA cancelled each other. Bhutto emergence as a third world charismatic leader who called US the white elephants, works for a solidarity fund, and steered Pakistan foreign policy towards Russia did give the capitalist world an headache. It is on this basis people call Bhutto's killing an international conspiracy. They argue, Zia himself never had the power to topple Bhutto. Zia was no match to Bhutto's intellect and popularity. It was Bhutto's nationalisation and independent finance policy that brought capitalism to a standstill in Pakistan. They needed to delete this hurdle, and hence Bhutto was hanged.

In his book, Notes from Death Cell, Bhutto himself hints about foreign conspiracy when he writes:

'I did not write any letters to the Indian Premier, Morarji Desai. I knew that Desai and general Zia had  reached an understanding with the help of America on the need to see me out." (pg. 47)

Personally speaking, this seems to be a more of a conspiracy theory than pragmatic thinking. Socialism was the system of the day. India, Pakistan, and many NAM (Non-Align Movement) countries had socialist tendencies in their system. If Bhutto was killed, why were't other leaders killed in the same way? India's socialism was much more stable, but no prime minister was hanged there. I guess, such conspiracy theory do transform Bhutto into a mythological character, meanwhile it also diminishes the shear injustice done by the army generals and courts. If we allege US was behind all this, then there is no logic to critic General Zia and Chief Justice Anawar  ul Haq. They are powerless entities infront of United State. They must follow foreign dictates.

There are chances this theory might had been propagated by the army elite itself. This reduces the burden of history of the shoulders of the generals giving them another chance to make mistakes.

But it also true that all charismatic personages where killed. Bhutto, Shah Faisal, Arafaat, and Ghaddafi; no one died of natural death. This amazing similarity between all these personalities gives impetus to the theory that Bhutto's assassination was a Capitalistic conspiracy. More research is needed to reach a final conclusion.

***

Whatever the reasons of assassination, Bhutto's charisma still lives on. Even the anti-PPP chief justice Ifthikhar Chaudry is forced to call Bhutto's trial a judicial murder. People vote on Bhutto's name, they die on Bhutto's name. Bhutto gave a second life to a shattered nation which had just lost its Eastern Wing. He brought 90,000 prisoners of war back from India, and incessantly worked to build Pakistan a nuclear bomb. Most importantly, he gave Pakistan the first constitution on which all federating units agree upon. Even Zia was forced to carry on with Bhutto's constitution when he ended the martial law, and became the President of Pakistan.

In a letter to his daughter Benazeer, Bhutto wrote:

"Man like me, these are the truly big things. You cannot be big unless you are prepared to kiss the ground. You cannot defend the soil unless you know the smell of that soil. I know the smell of our soil. I know the rhythm of our rivers. I know the beat of our drums. The theories, the dogmas and the scripts stand outside the gates of history. The dominant factor is the aspiration of the people and the ability to seek total identification with it. Once the significance of the symphony is grasped, the lines fall into place, the dogmas and theories get legs to move in time to the majesty of that music. This does not mean that I am preaching pragmatism. There is a lot of expediency in pragmatism. I am trying to trace the roots of the problems, the genesis of the challenges, the cause of the struggle." (from My Dearest Daughter: a letter from the death cell, pg 15)

Bhutto lived by his words and died by his words. He knew the rhythms of the soil, and how to make dance with it. His ideas still bring smiles on millions of low-income and middle-income families across Pakistan. 

Nihilistic Fundamentalism in Pakistan

The incident of lynching an alleged blasphemer in Pakistan, sent a shrike deep down my spine. I said  impromptu, "Nihilistic Fundamentalism is greatest threat to Pakistan".

Fundamentalism originated as a counter culture in the modern world. It urged people to show their back to the modern materialistic world. At a very basic level, fundamentalists interpret religious scriptures in a literal fashion, transforming the allegorical aspects of the holy scriptures into concrete modern days ideologies. They are on a mission for trying to bring back religion back at the centre stage in a world where liberalism control all aspects of human life.

This was how Fundamentalism used to be. But in today's world, Fundamentalism has taken an horrendous path which has the tendency to destroy humanity. Karen Armstrong in her seminal work, The Battle for God, calls this tendency the nihilistic aspect of fundamentalism. Such fundamentalist reject all general human trait. They desecrate life, freedom of speech, education, and they even battle against the foundational tenets of religion. These nihilists don't just desecrate their life in the name of religion; rather, they desecrate any thought which opposes them.

We can observe the consequences of Nihilistic Fundamentalism everyday in Pakistan. From the murder of Shabaz Bhutti to the assassination of Salman Taseer, from the ousting of Ahmadi children from schools to the killing of Hazara Shias. From forced marriages to forced conversions. From burning innocents alive to extraditing intellectuals. The buzzwords that iterate in all these horrendous acts are nihilism and fundamentalism. The perpetrators consider themselves as the last saviours of the religion with the duty of annihilating all symbolism which they believe to be profane. They believe that killing people will sent him to heaven and attacking worship places will bring them rewards. They think that ossifying alien ideologies is the only way to keep their ideology alive.

Nihilistic Fundamentalism is a force to reckon with. Such fundamentalists are by definition anachronistic. Their inward journey to find meaning in the modern world distorts their grab of reality. They aren't on a mystical journey to understand reality; rather they totally are disconnected from the ethos of the civilized world. Nihilistic Fundamentalism is an antithesis of the culture of love preached by the sufis and mystics in South-Asia. The 18th century Punjabi sufi poet, Bulla Shah, once said:

Tear down the mosque and temple too, break all that divides
But do not break the human heart as it is there that God resides.

Copping with Nihilistic Fundamentalist 

Nevertheless, we shouldn't give them an easy win. Firstly, we should appreciate how nihilistic fundamentalists think. Are they programmed to be anachronistic? Why do they live on hate? What force them to annihilate? I think, there is a serious dearth of research on this topic from the view point of the fundamentalist. 

More importantly, an ideological war can only be fought with an alternate ideology. There is a need of a serious discourse to topple all the utopian ideas preached by fundamentalists in Pakistan. The vibrant electronic media in Pakistan should help in building up the public narrative against terrorism.

Debunking myths regarding the re-opening of NATO supplies

NATO trucks waiting at Karachi. adapted from: csmonitor.com

There is a uproar in Pakistan against the opening of the NATO supply route that Pakistan closed in the aftermath of the Salala incident. 24 Pakistani troops lost their lives exacerbating PAK-US relationships. This worsening of relationship didn't just affected the ongoing fight against terrorism, but also closed a big source of employment for Pakistanis. Thousands of hawkers, truck drivers, mechanics, workers, loaders and cooks became unemployed the day Pakistan closed the PAK-AFGHAN border in retaliation to the Salala killing. The government of Pakistan demanded an explicit apology from the the government of United States in order to re-open the vital NATO supply routes. Last night secretary of state Hilary Clinton called Pakistan's foreign minister, Hina Rabbani, and uttered the word which the government and the army were waiting to hear since 6 months — the word was, "Sorry". This magic word has given new impetus to the stagnant relationship between Pakistan and United States. It shows Pakistan's sincere commitment for it's fight against terrorism in the region. 

The literature that criticise the re-opening of NATO supply routes is mostly emotional, rhetorical, populous, and logically inconsistent. People with a rightist bend are vehemently speaking against the re-opening of supply. The best summary of their logical argument is given in an article written by Zaid Hamid titled "Ten reasons why NATO supplies must never be opened!"

Presented below is a logical critic on the ten reasons elucidated by Mr. Zaid Hamid. Zaid Hamid is one of Pakistan's biggest conspiracy theorists who thinks the whole world is trying to destroy the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The reason to debunk his article is to disprove his conspiracy theory, and secondly to answer all logical inconsistency in the rightist discourse. Zaid Hamid reason is written in Italic and Orange:

1. US is building an invasion level army in Afghanistan but giving the false perception that they plan to leave by 2014. Over 3,500 armored infantry vehicles and 5000 containers of weapons stuck in Pakistan, as well as Abrams M1A1 main battle tanks are not going for ant-Taliban operations. Taliban do not have aircraft. US is taking in anti aircraft radars and guns. Do they really think we are that stupid? This military buildup is for Af-Pak military doctrine which envisions invasion of Pakistan in tandem with Indian Cold start invasion from the East once the deployed 4th generation war reaches critical levels of anarchy.

The primary question is, from where did he get all this information? Does he works for the ISI, CIA, or NSA? What are his sources? Can he quote some books or newspaper articles to explicate his point of view? Zaid Hamid simply constructs a myth by himself and then fills it up with military jargon to make is sound reasonable. Words like Abrams M1A1 main battle tanks, Indian Cold start invasion, and 4th generation war is nothing more than cliches which students use to impress their teachers in school or colleges.

During his reasoning, Mr. Hamid asks a question out of no where: Do they really think we are that stupid? I think the nation isn't stupid. It is people like you who are fooling the younger generations for years. I say, enough of this fooling around! If you can't guide than don't misguide. It was the stupidity of our policies in the 1980s when Pakistan fought against the Soviet Union. It is because of that stupidity the nation is suffering today. The greatest stupidity in the present situation is the blocking of the Durand Line. If Pakistan continues to block the border, in will only elongate US presence in the region, and will keep thousands of Pakistans unemployed. Do you call giving employment stupidity? Maybe you do, but I don't!

2. US supply line is also the supply line for non-state violent actors like TTP, BLA and other militants groups in Karachi, where hundreds of containers have been “lost” inside Pakistan and their weapons gone “missing”. TTP has killed or wounded over 100,000 Pakistanis so far in their bloody war against Pak Sarzameen and we all know that they are based in Afghanistan, protected by NATO and Karzai and backed by RAW. The Salala check post attack by NATO, which resulted in this blockade, was carried out by NATO to clear passage for the TTP insurgents.

Total distortion of facts and history. The Salala incident took place on 26th November 2011. From that date, the supply routes have been closed. On the other hand, thousands of Pakistanis have been killed by the hands of Islamic extremists and terrorists. Killing is taking place on ethnic and sectarian grounds. People are also being killed due to extortion activities. According to HRCP report around 740 people have been killed in Karachi during the last five months. Hazaras Shias are being killed everyday. This has nothing to do with the open of the supply routes. All these killings were even happening when the supply route was closed down by the government. 

The Baloch people are not being support by RAW. The interior ministry has failed to produce and sort of evidence whatsover to prove Indian presence in Balochistan. The Baloch independence movement has now become a middle-class movement in which the whole spectrum of the Baloch society is participating. Rather than cursing Indian, the federation and the army must win the hearts and minds of the common Baloch.

Zaid Hamid writes: "The Salala check post attack by NATO, which resulted in this blockade, was carried out by NATO to clear passage for the TTP insurgents." . This is the funniest part of his logic. NATO helping TTP! This is nothing more than a wild conspiracy to fool the nation. Zaid Hamid premise is absolutely false, hence the conclusion he tries to derive is nothing more than the distortion of facts.

3. Give us one reason why should we be part of the illegal American war to kill Afghan Muslims? US itself is talking to Afghan Taliban and resistance for a political settlement but wants Pakistan to wage a war against them! For the last 12 years, Pakistan has been bulldozed and abused into an illegal war of occupation, just as Soviets had done in 80s. Now we are not willing to be a part of it. It’s that simple. US did not enter Afghanistan after taking our permission nor it is our responsibility to maintain their forces there. They can go to hell as far as we are concerned.

This point proves that Zaid Hamid cannot prove his perspective in a logical manner. He plays the trick that most right wingers play when they couldn't defend their point of view — they appeal to emotion. Words like 'kill Afghan Muslims', 'illegal war of occupation', ' go to hell', etc. are only emotional blackmailing to drive the nation crazy. Zaid Hamid talks about US presence in Afghanistan as if Taliban rule was the golden age of Afghanistan. Thousands of innocent people belonging to minority communities were killed in Afghanistan. Women had no rights to study, work and live according to their own will. They were forced to wear the Afghan Niqab. Life was miserable for half of the population of Afghanistan!.Only the Pastoon speaking people were happy with the Taliban rule, as the Taliban were mostly Pashtons (Joe Klein calls them the Pashtoon Liberation Army), thus protected the economic interests of their community.

After the US invasion women and children have more freedom. They can freely song, go to school, and enjoy their lives. Millions of school children can now go to schools. An educational revolution is taking place in Aghanistan, and its results will be visible in the next 10 years. 

This reason ends with rhetoric which can only bring smiles on our faces. Nothing to comment on it.

4. The US war in Afghanistan has also brought the war inside Pakistan with over $90 billion worth of loses, damages, destruction to roads and transport infrastructure and over 100,000 killed or wounded so far and counting. The peanuts given to Pakistan as CSF are not more than bribes to the rulers. The entire logistical supply line was free, without any taxes, duties or compensation for the losses. Pakistani nation has only bled through this war. Not anymore. Enough. 

Again the number 100,000 has nothing to do with the closure of NATO supplies. More people are killed in Pakistan by the hands of religious extremists compared to US drones. Secondly, Zaid Hamid speaks about the $90 billion dollar lose. Is closing the route an efficient method to cope up with this? Closing the supply route has only increase unemployment in Pakistan, which is only exacerbating the poor economic conditions of the country. 

More importantly, the route weren't closed because of economic reasons. It was closed because 24 soldoers were killed by the NATO forces. Pakistan didn't close the route to gain economic benefits. The life of 24 soldiers in more important compared to some dollar which Zaid Hamid mentioned.

Zaid Hamid falsely remarks, "The entire logistical supply line was free". He claims to be a defences analyst, but knows nothing about transit duties being paid to Pakistan by the United States. For Zaid Hamid's information , US paid $250 per truck as transit fees. This is distortion at its best!

5. US now plan to bring India as strategic partner in Afghanistan which would create another nightmare security crisis for Pakistan. Already the Indian presence in Afghanistan has brought death and destruction to Pakistan as RAW is the main handler of TTP and BLA for the CIA. US want Pakistan to support and facilitate Indian presence in Afghanistan. They think we are crazy. Over our dead bodies. By killing the Af-Pak military doctrine, Pakistan also killed the Indian game plan in Afghanistan. US have made a terrible blunder by waging a war against Pakistan and inviting Indians to take charge in Afghanistan. Enough to make us very very angry.

Nothing new in this logic. A conspiracy theorist blabbering a new conspiracy theory. RAW, BLA, TTP, CIA, bla bla bla, US help and destruction of Pakistan, et cetera. A meaningless piece of argument.

Zaid Hamid claims US is bringing in India. He thinks as if India needs US protocol for improving relationship with Afghanistan. India is helping Afghanistan in building roads, higher education institution, parliament building, hospitals, etc. India has developed a might 'soft power' in Afghanistan. Even Taliban acknowledges India. The Afghan people are thankful to India for her help in the development of Afghanistan. India doesn't need United States as a middle-man! India isn't Ethopia or Sudan, the country has successfully forged relationship with Afghanistan on its own. 

On the other hand, Pakistan continues to consider Afghanistan as her 'strategic depth'. It is high time for Pakistan to imitate the India policy to win the hearts and minds of the Afghani boy and girls. Terror only breeds terror, and in the end, terror also eats up the breeder.

Again, Zaid Hamid ends his 5th reason with a joke, "Pakistan also killed the Indian game plan in Afghanistan". Sensible people can only guffaw at this statement.

6. Pakistan’s parliament has passed a resolution blocking all weapons supplies into Afghanistan. Now it is illegal and a crime to send weapons into Afghanistan. Pakistani nation has spoken and its verdict is sharp. No weapons to Afghanistan occupation forces ever. Not through land, not through air.

Resolutions are not binding decisions. The US also presented a resolution on free Balochistan. Hundreds of resolutions have been passed by the parliament on a wide range of topics. The purpose of a parliamentary resolution s only to underscore the topic of the month. A resolution cannot make anything legal or illegal. 

For the conspiracy theorist information, the DCC (Defense Cabinet Committee) is the decision making body on all national security issues. The routes were closed on DCC's decision and are now opened on DCC's decision. The Pakistani nation speaks through the DCC, not through a leaflet with no legal value.

Secondly, weapons don't pass through Paksitan's soil to Afghanistan. Zaid Hamid knows nothing about the NATO transit between the PAK-AFGHAN border. Pakistan only helps in transporting stuff other than weaponry into Afghanistan. I think Zaid Hamid has never read a newspaper in his whole life.

Comparing a parliamentary resolution with a cabinet decision is another farce played by Zaid Hamid. Distortion at its peak!

7. US has been waging a massive drone war inside Pakistan, killing hundreds of innocent Pakistanis whose blood is cheaply ignored as “collateral damage”. US have totally refused to acknowledge Pakistan’s protests and demands that these illegal campaigns be stopped. Why should we listen to US when US is directly involved in killing our people just as TTP, BLA and other terrorist gangs? 

Thousands of innocent Pakistanis have been killed by extremists and terrorists who are the combine enemy of United States and Pakistan. To be more factual, more Pakistanis have been killed in Lahore by extremists than the militants during the Indo-Pak migeration. Secondly, Drones have killed more terrorists in the FATA region compared to innocent people. 

Zaid Hamid gets his information from some mystical source. Nobody knows about it. According to a Bloomberg report by Tony Cappacio and Jeff Bliss quotes, 

US government sources suggesting that ever since July 2008, drone strikes in Pakistan have killed 1,300 militants and only 30 civilians, with no civilians killed since August 2010. (source: Nadeem F. Paracha's article)

Drones do violate geographical sovereignty, but it's a farce to say that more civilians are killed by drones compared to terrorists. Terrorists are nobody's people. If US is helping Pakistan in exterminating terrorism, than it's a win-win deal for both countries.

8. If the supplies are resumed, this would dangerously pitch the nation against armed forces and Pakistan Army. Pakistani armed forces are respected and loved by the people and it is the will of the people that these supplies must remain blocked. Today, dozens of officers and men of Pak army are dying each week at the hands of CIA / RAW backed terrorists. If the supplies are resumed, this number would reach to hundreds per week as insurgents and terrorists would get fresh supply of weapons and explosives. 

Nothing more than wild conspiracy theory. The nation is more threatened by terrorist sanctuaries than by NATO supply routes. "pitching the nation against the army" is nothing more than a layman conjuncture. 

Zaid Hamid is now simply trying to complete his ten point list. He says CIA is killing soldiers! Hasn't he seen the video in which Pakistani troops are being killed by the hands of the Taliban?! Distortion, distortion, and only distortion. This is how Zaid Hamid takes the nation on a ride!

9. Have we forgotten Dr. Afia? No we have not. US war crimes and crimes against humanity are long but none so serious as abduction, incarceration and conviction of Dr. Afia. Raymond Davis also killed our citizens, we have not forgotten the Salala massacre, Abbotabad raid was also a violation and insult to our dignity but we can never forget what US has done to an innocent mother whose life and family has been mercilessly butchered by the US. It is her revenge we take in every way we can. 

How does Afia jumps in this whole issue? What is Afia to do with NATO supply? Afia is in jail for 9 years, the NATO supply has nothing to do with the imprisonment or releasing of Afia from US jail. In fact, nothing can be done about this issue. No power can surpass US judiciary. Zaid the conspiracy theorists is only playing with public emotions. A tool he knows how to use!

Calling the Abbotabad raid a violation is a strategy to digress from the main issue. That is, how was a terrorist hiding near the Kakul military academy? Was the establishment playing a double-game with United States? Why didn't ISI know about this? Rather than answering these questions, Zaid Hamid foolishly shifts the basic discourse. 

10. It would be the most staggering military blunders of all times to let the enemy supplies pass through our land when it plans to invade us with the help of Indians to turn us into another Iraq and then into another Yugoslavia! We know their game now and their war against Pak sarzameen is hurting us every day. Now this nation won’t be part of their diplomatic non-sense and lies. If the rulers try to open the supplies, there would be an open armed rebellion in the country against the government.

This is simply senseless! How can re-opening supply route help Indians in turning Pakistan into Iraq or Yugoslavia. Is the author lost his mind till he reaches the last point. 

Zaid Hamid is publicly forcing people on a civil disobedience movement. He has completely lost his grab on the issue, and like a losing debater, he know wants to fight with the winner. Zaid Hamid will be alone in his fight, as the nation know the benefits of re-opening the supply routes. 

The ubiquitous political spectrum in Pakistan

In today's Pakistan, ideological politics has lost its meaning. We do hear about the mysterious 'Ideology of Pakistan', alongside with some explanation regarding 'Islamic Political Ideology'. But these rhetoric are mostly used to emotionally instil the general public.

Although many political parties exist in Pakistan, a number of them are by nature undemocratic. They are neither leftist nor rightist, neither Islamic nor Secular. All in all, they are a mixture of many paradoxical ideas that cannot exist alongside each other.

If an analysis is done on the political sloganeering in Pakistan, we get some interesting similarities:

1. Using Islam in political rhetoric

Whether it is PML(N) , PPP, PTI, MQM or PML(Q), all of them try to manoeuvre human emotions through utopian dreams that cannot be fulfilled by any pragmatic standard. All of them idealise a welfare state with the prefix of "Islam" in it. Meanwhile, they fail to explain the ideological differences between a "Western welfare state" and an "Islamic welfare state". Some parties prefix "Islam" with socialism, and hence comes the term "Islamic socialism". How can a materialist theory be squeezed together with religious idealism? I don't think it is ever possible. Some parties publicly call themselves "centre-to-right". They aren't fundamentalists, but they do have a bend towards fundamentalist ideologies. We can observe religious symbolism in their words:

"The Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q) has been playing a historic role for the supremacy of Islam."  — Pervez Elahi (Daily Times: 02.11.2007) 

"Our vision is a strong, democratic, developed, prosperous and just Pakistan in which every citizen enjoys equal opportunities to develop and grow without any discrimination and a harmonious society based on universal principles of social justice as enshrined in golden teachings of Islam."  — PML(N) vision

"People view me as having bi polar views on religion. However, I claim to bring justice to society and that is what Islam promises to give to its society."  — Imran Khan (Business Recorder: 15.06.2012) 

"We need to revisit our policies towards other religions and should try to change our mindset. That is the doctrine that MQM and its leadership have been following."  —  MQM Blog

"This blend of Islam and Socialism steered a course away from Secular Dogmatic Marxism and came to be known as Islamic Socialism. "  —  PPP UK page

It should be noted that no aforementioned party is by definition a religious political party. All of them primarily use Islam as a political leverage. None of them can explicate how their vision is different from Islamic political party? How will they answer modern challenges? How will they maintain a decent standard of living? Similar to religious parties, these parties aren't able to answer these basic questions. They are either fooling themselves or the nation. The people are the best judges.

2. Hero worship

All Pakistani parties hero worship many personages. Generally speaking, Jinnah is the apotheosis of a South-Asian visionaries. He cannot be disputed, and cannot be criticised. Unfortunately, Jinnah — as a hero — has gone under a metamorphosis during General Zia's rule. Jinnah the secular was converted into Jinnah the Islamist. This metamorphism allows political parties to use Jinnah as a symbol in their religious rhetoric. All political parties maintain that they are the real owners of Jinnah's Islamic welfare state. They fail to recognize a simple fact that Jinnah was a 20th century secular leader, hence his problem solving techniques are not the only solution for our problems. Time has moved on, hence we need new visionaries for our new time.

Apart from Jinnah, many politcal parties also hero worship Allama Iqbal. In some case the political head of a party is sandwiched between Jinnah and Allama Iqbal. This is the funniest part of all. Iqbal loathed materialism in any sense of the word. He wanted to change the world through the power of spirituality, that he thought must be exercised by a Mard-e-Momin (a true believer). This  Mard-e-Momin can never guarantee a rising standard of living, because Iqbal doesn't acknowledge the importance of material progress. Can a political leader ignore the important of standard of living in his manifesto? In fact, the foundations of a political part rest on the pillars of material growth. The reason Karachites love Mustafa Kamal (MQM's mayor) is because he worked day and night for the material well-being of the people. He built roads, parks, sewage lines, placed new underground gas pipe lines that raised their standard of living. It was not about ameliorating spirituality! Iqbal's philosophy is not a populist ideology. Distorting Iqbal's ideas is yet another "mission accomplished" in fooling the nation. All in all, Iqbal is another demigod worshipped by many political parties to achieve political gains.

Imran Khan sandwiched
between Jinnah and Iqbal
source: siasat.pk

Nawaz Shareef sandwiched between Jinnah and Iqbal.
source: defence.pk

The whole PML(Q) sandwiched between Jinnan and Iqbal. Due to space
limitation the leadership is displayed beneath them. source: facebook/ pml(q)

Last but not the least, the personage which mostly diminishes all other party members around him is the political head himself. People follow on his command, they wreck havoc on his orders. They veraciously defend their leaders' political opinion. They fight and vulgarize their opponents in case the opponents criticises the political head. In fact, the political head is a king, a pope and a general combined. He tries to portray himself as a figure as might as Alexander the Great, but miserably fails to do so. (They don't use the name of Akbar the Great as he allegedly made a new religion!). Political leaders hate dissent. This allows the culture of hero worship to prevail and strengthen.

pictures of leadership is a prerequisite for printing a billboard
source: flicker.com 

Imran Khan is the most visible entity in this billboard.
source: pakimag.com

3. Pro Capitalist manifestos

In the modern world, it is quite impossible for a political parties on go an an anti-capitalist rhetoric. Secondly, they don't have the intellectual capabilities required to develop a system that can contour capitalist misuses. The real problem is, these political parties use Capitalism for their personal political gains rather than for the gain of the commoners. Negative capitalistic tendencies are present in all political parties. All parties have big capitalists on their candidate lists. There is a consensus between all political parties on accepting World Bank and IMF loans. It must be noted that there is nothing inherently wrong in these loans; unfortunately, political leadership use this money for their personal gains, hence plummeting monetary reserves of the country.

Capitalist prosper in all political parties. Sources:
Babur Ghauri revenue (paklinks.com), Asad Umar (express tribune)
Mirza Sugar Mills ( Bloomberg Businees Review), Sharif Group list (siasat.pk)

Moreover, political leadership controls major industries in the country allowing them to create a artificial balance between supply and demand. Commodity prices follow their personal whims. If they want to make money, they create a short artificial shortage allowing the commodity price to rise. When they want to reduce prices (for buying political gain in elections), they import excess commodity from the free market. This is the most pathetic use of Capitalism. It allows a minority class to grow rich at an unprecedented rate, while the majority waits for the infamous "trickle down effect" to change their lives. This waiting period is mostly infinite.