As I write this, thousands of lawyers, political activists and civilans are on the streets in all the major cities of Pakistan. They are continuing the revolution that started on March 9, 2007, the revoution towards a more open, democratic Pakistan where the constitution and rule of law shall prevail.
Why is the Obama administration silent? does it not understand that the best defense against terrorism is a strong and stable Pakistan. Not a temporary stability that comes from dictators and bought leadership, but a stabliity that comes in the long term in a society which has political awareness and a reach towards justice as its basis.
The issues are still the same. On Novmeber 3 2008, military dictator Musharaf imposed maritial law in the guise of emergency and depoosed the Chief Justice of Pakistan arrested him and 60 other judges along with thier families. This is probably the biggest arrest of judiciary in recorded history.
http://www.despardes.com
Februrary 18, 2008 Pakistan held an election and an elected leadership eventually replaced the dictator promising many times to turn back the acts of a dictator and placing the judiciary back to the position of November 2, 2008. This has no happened and the long march and a call for civil disobedience is once again on.
This should not be a complicated issue, except Zardari who is the elected President of Pakistan is concerned that his corruption cases, that were illegaly forgiven by the dictator Mushraff (who was trying to cut a deal to stay in office), could reopen and he has decided to act like a civilian dictator, suppressing speech, beating up people in peaceful rallies, and censoring media. He has turned the whole country to a big jail with all economic and soical activity halted. Govt. having imposed section 144 which says that no more than two people can assemble.
So what is the interest of the US? - as we all know, Pakistan is a front line state in the fight against terror, we have to forego our short term interest we cannot once again allow a dictator to sit and continue to destroy the long term stability of Pakistan, which is what the US needs for its protection.
http://www.dawn.com/...
This should not be a complicated issue, except Zardari who is the elected President of Pakistan is concerned that his corruption cases, that were illegaly forgiven by the dictator Mushraff (who was trying to cut a deal to stay in office), could reopen and he has decided to act like a civilian dictator, suppressing speech, beating up people in peaceful rallies, and censoring media. He has turned the whole country to a big jail with all economic and soical activity halted. Govt. having imposed section 144 which says that no more than two people can assemble.
So what is the interest of the US? - as we all know, Pakistan is a front line state in the fight against terror, we have to forego our short term interest we cannot once again allow a dictator to sit and continue to destroy the long term stability of Pakistan, which is what the US needs for its protection.
Bush's big mistake after Iraq was to let Mushraff play his double game for 8 yrs, which allowed al-qaeda and taliban to gain a strong hold in the tribal and even some settled northern areas of Pakistan. We cannont afford Obama to do the same.
President Obama needs to understand that the need of the Pakistani people is Justice, that's part of the development that is needed for any society to make the leap from a non-democratic to a democratic society. Pakistani people are ready for the change, is US ready for democratic Pakistan?
For those who has always maintained that a muslim society can never be democratic, let this be a lesson in reality, that people everywhere yearn for a fair and free judiciary and a right to speak their mind. Pakistanis have sacraficed most in the fight against terror, the thousands of unsung heros of Pakistani army, ill equipped and paid pittance, march to fight the taliban each day and have lost their lives, never finding their names said in any other corner of the world, though they fight for us all.
More Pakistani civilians have lost their lives, murdered by the Taliban and Al-qaeda. Thousands of mothers have lost their sons and daughters and remain confused that the society that has suffered most has be maligned most as well, being called pro Al-qaeda and Talban society by the West.
Will we not learn from history? the US armed jihadis and zealots back in the first Afghan war for a goal to fight the USSR, and now the whole world suffers the blowback, because Al-qaeda was born there. Clinton abandoned Pakistan to its fate and choked its economy through the 90s, and now we all suffer because Taliban came into being in the 90s. Then, the brilliant General George W. Bush, a friend to every dictator known to man except the one he didnt like. A friend of the most opressive regimes in the world the Saudi royal family, supported Muharraf, a petty thug, because he was easy to buy, and now we suffer a reorganized al qaeda and a reinforced Taliban. What mistake is Obama going to make or will he learn and do the right thing by supporting the Pakistani people instead of the Pakistani leadership de jure.