When President Musharraf was trying to protect them from flood, they were busy cutting the branch they were sitting on…Watch this video clip in which a staunch critic and a famous journalist, Hamid Mir, also well known for his close associations with Pakistani Talibans-according to some sources, finally has no choice left but to admit and then give details of how hard President Musharraf was really working to save Pakistan from any the flood. He goes on to disclose how a joint collusion between Feudal lords and corrupt judges was secretly working to set road-blocks in Presidents way, in an attempt to stop him from protecting people of Pakistan.

That collusion of corrupt judiciary and fedual lords resulted in the most catastrophic flood in the Pakistan’s history, crippling whole of Pakistan from spine downwards in matter for few days.

At the end, Mir Hamid finally poses the million dollar question:

Who will hold such corrupt judges accountable for being part of a scheme that resulted in such National disaster?

My Comment:

It’s very sad how flood has caused such a massive damage to the Pakistani infrastructure everywhere, nonetheless, it remains a fact that this national disaster could have been avoided with minimum damage, had it not been for the greedy and self-centered feudal lords and the corrupt judges on their payroll, Pakistan would have survived it with the strategical steps taken by President Musharraf’s government.

Unfortunately, this is also a sad truth that those in power corridors of Pakistan don’t see past their noses and ashes right ahead of them.

Solution:  The only cure is an honest leader who is self-starter, motivated, capable and equipped with an iron resolve to get things done no matter what, who can mentor the nation, show them right from wrong, give them enough courage to pull it together and enough discipline to make things happen.

Yes, you are right. That tried and tested Pakistani leader is no other than former President of Pakistan, Gen. Pervez Musharraf.  Let’s rally behind him and make a change in Pakistan by voting for him in the next election.

(Facebook Video link HERE)

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“I am ashamed of being Pakistani“, an exasperated Pakistani female politician Mrs. Ejaz Khan from MQM finally loses it in National Assembly.

In this worth-watching short video clip, she expresses her disappointments to the Honorable Speaker of the house. “Inside all of us here, we have this boiling volcano of sheer hate and deep loathing of one another and I am afraid it will not stop here until you stop this. It’s your duty as the Speaker of the house.” She says.

The Honorable member of the National Assembly almost breaks down while making a heartfelt appeal to her fellow politicians to keep themselves from the showdown of their despicable behaviours and rather work together for the sake of their motherland. She further reminds her fellow members of the National Assembly of the past sixty (60) years of this great country and how our petty political differences are still successfully impeding country’s prosperity.

(Click HEREto watch it directly on facebook if video below seems restricted by facebook.)

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In the following video clip, Mr. Javed Chaudhry, host of Kal Tak, counts the good services rendered by President Musharraf during his presidency. He further does an economic comparison of before, during and after President Musharraf’s government and concludes that in the lights of these facts Pakistan during President Musharraf’s time was thousands folds better than today.

(You can also check this clip by clicking HERE)

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It was shocking for me to see it on the TV how people were beating up those two innocent and nice boys. We should be ashamed of ourselves. Had it been me still in power, I would have gone to Sialkot myself and made sure that those responsible for this inhuman crime are brought to justice.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckrpU4D9hNs

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There can not be a good enough or an encompassing post on this tragic incident, and maybe this is not the first time that such a barbaric and brutal act has taken place in the sub-continent, given the rich history of the region in riots and mob attacks. But still, there is something about this incident which is very tragic, and more shameful than the similar ones occurring in Karachi, for example, in which angry public mobs burnt three robbers alive, who were caught red-handed. I hope I am just not overreacting in publishing this post. 

They were just two young boys, who were somehow alleged to be “robbers” by the self-righteous local village mob, and were later confirmed not guilty of any crime at all. I won’t go into details of the case history, neither do I know about them  too much like most people, and it does not matter anyway, since murdering someone like this in absolutely unacceptable. This not only shows how barbaric and insensitive the general public have become, but also how inhuman, morally corrupt and ineffective the state institutions and law enforcement authorities are. 

Even video clips were recorded of the incident, which is why everyone can feel its intensity. The media crews arrived and documented the incident. The Punjab Emergency Rescue Service 1122 arrived at the spot for help, but the police and the security administration of the corrupt bureaucrats working in the area prevented anyone from interrupting the carnage. The boys were totally innocent and belonged to a law-abiding and noble family living in Sialkot and were the sons of one Sajjad Butt. 

First of all, let me apologize for posting these clips of this incident, but I need to document them in order to present the evidence of the case under discussion and also to convey the intensity of this incidence and why am I so upset about it. 

I recommend you not to watch these clips at all if you are sensitive to violence or have a weak constitution. If you have to watch, then maybe you should not go through the entire length of the clips. These clips will only offer you an idea about the intensity of this savage, brutal and barbarian act and are only posted here to offer an evidence to this tragic incident. If the description of the incident is enough for you, I advise you to skip them altogether, if you are not one of those curious types. 

The incident as reported by Geo News.  

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dazJCe5kz4o

The incident discussed in Dunya TV talk show Hasb-e-Haal, through which I learned about it.  

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMAssGFuT0w

This is the most graphic video, so you can choose not to view it. However, as an evidence I am posting it anyway. Apologies to anyone who considers it offensive, but viewer discretion has been advised.  

www.youtube.com/watch?v=duzLh_eU57w

(Some may not be able to see the video below due to facebook’s restrictions for linking their videos. Please go to the facebook video page directly by clicking HERE)

Yet another graphic and horrific depiction, which goes to show how brutal were the mob. Viewer discretion advised. If the description suffices you, you can choose to avoid the pain of watching this clip.  

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Flh_-D4SX9w

They were brutally beaten, bathed in their own blood, with almost everyone putting in their “contribution” to make them bleed even further, which shockingly even involved old men and little children. Then they were dragged on the roads and were finally hanged and humiliated. They even tell me that they finally put their bodies outside their homes transported to there by putting them on a truck. I have a feeling these brutal savages knew who these boys were and that they were specifically targeted.  

The account in the media, that the boys were thought to be “burglars”, since there had been a burglary in that neighborhood just earlier, does not convince me at all. Maybe it is true, but if it is, only shows how cold-hearted and cruel those people were. The people were really beating the boys, as it is evident from these clips. I have a feeling that there is more to this story, which is being covered up by the people, the corrupt DPO, the local administration and the criminal police of the area.  

The Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary has taken the notice of this incidentand has slammed the Sialkot DPO Waqar Chauhan over this tragedy. As a matter of fact, all of the civil servants operating in the area  should step down after this incident, and the “criminal” police should take responsibility for this carnage. In fact, almost a weak is about to elapse and the police  is still unable to submit a report for this incident.  

A Word on the Morality of the People   

This incidence occurred during the Holy Month of Ramadan, which is still continuing as I write these lines. A Muslim is even forbidden to verbally abuse someone, leave alone beating anyone or harming physically. And this tragedy occurred in broad day light, when people were supposedly fasting. I wonder about their faith in Islam, God and Ramadan when they were resorting to such a brutal act. They should be ashamed to call themselves human beings after doing so.   

At least I am ashamed to be a Pakistani and a human being after learning this.   

If you refer to my article about educating yourself against prejudices, I had talked about how people have no problem with murdering human beings and watching violence, as their minds get conditioned for it, when they approve of little acts of violence, such as killing an insect. I am not saying that I am a perfect human being, but I am just referring to the fact how little intolerance to violence can lead to greater acts of violence.   

The people who were so brutally beating the poor boys did not think for a minute how it would feel if they were beaten up by everyone in their place. How it feels when a metallic rod hits you, how it feels if everyone kicks you when you are already bleeding to death and cannot take it anymore, and how it feels to be humiliated and killed by a slow death in this painful and inhuman way. I bet that coward mob would not even be able to take a single blow.  

Again, people are as brutal as they can do something as horrific and savage like this act is simply because of the fact that they have no concept whatsoever about the importance and the sanctity of life. They neither have any regard for the life of other and neither for their feelings. They can gather and kill two innocent young boys and make an exhibition out of it, and no one was there to stop them.  

At this point, I must say that I have never felt more disgusted and disappointed at the Pakistani nation ever before in my life. But I have never known of a more brutal and violent incident in my life as well. The nation certainly has fallen to a new low with this act, and shame on the state, the bureaucracy and the ever-corrupt police, who are nothing but a bunch of criminals.  

The alarming fact is that would people treat anyone like this who they consider as criminals, even without confirming it? Does it not make them criminals themselves? I don’t think there is a single criminal offense in the world which deserve such a brutal punishment, which is a clear violation of human rights. And by the way, why did the authorities let the people take law in their own hands and did nothing to stop them? In fact, they protected the mob.  

As far as the culture of public punishments go, it is not a new concept in the region at all. People are stoned to death regularly in countries like Iran, Afghanistan and the Tribal Areas in North Western parts of Pakistan, particularly the areas controlled by the Taliban. But unfortunately, many Muslims approve of such inhuman and barbaric methods of punishment.  

It is because of such religious concepts that the masses are encouraged to resort to brutal and violent means in “punishing” whosoever they think is “wrong” by their sub-human standards. What these people really need is an education. Not only should they be taught the importance and sanctity of life, but they should also be cured of the prejudices and hatred which plague their hearts.  

This tragic and horrific incident should get every Pakistani worried and thinking. It is not an everyday incident or act of crime at all. For if they do not speak out against it, and talk about it, so to educate the unaware masses out there, many of them could find the same treatment on the streets.  

After this incident, I will never be able to defend Pakistani people again, ever.  

————————————————————————————————————————  

DISCLAIMER: None of the video clips have either been recorded or uploaded by the author, or owned by him. They have been taken from YouTube, where there are even more clips available for the same incident, and can be accessed by anyone.  The author only came to know about the incident on the day of the publishing of this post, that is, August 20, 2010.

Source|Credit: http://haroonriaz.wordpress.com/2010/08/20/the-sialkot-carnage-savage-nation/

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 According to estimates, Pakistan has over 40,000 religious seminaries spread across all major towns and cities. Traveling through vast expanses of Punjab and Sindh, or through hills of Northern Pakistan, and among the arid, desolate landscape of Baluchistan, scattered among villages are mosques attached to a Madrassah. This brings the income for the local mullah, and economic relief to over populated families of poor farmers who can easily get rid of a couple of extra mouths which they can’t feed.

While studying in Faisalabad, a crowded city in the heart of Punjab, I was surprised to see the number of children attending dozens of Madrassahs scattered around the University. We often used to remark on the number of graduates coming out of these seminaries each year and their job prospects. Faisalabad alone must have been producing 5000 qualified Maulvis every year. A figure outnumbering the total number of Doctors graduating in the whole of Pakistan each year.

By this estimate, these Madrassahs are producing at least 100,000 graduates fully conversant with the knowledge of Quran, Hadith and Fiqh in Pakistan. This must make the total number of model Muslims in the country in its Millions. My Maulvi friends.. don’t despair as the number will increase even further when the flood ravaged nation will dump the rest of their male progeny at your mercy in the coming months and years.

My question to my Mullah friends is this.. In the presence of such piety just pouring forth from these fountains of religious knowledge and moral excellence, why is Pakistan steeped in all kinds of moral and social ills? Crime of all kind is on the increase for the past many decades. Streets are living exhibits of a society worthy of Divine Wrath of biblical proportions. And yes, I believe that is happening as I write these words.

Are your prayers and supplications going unheard sir? Why, when you rant and rave in your loudspeakers about the futility of worldly life, about the infidelities of other sects, about the interference of foriegn hands and anti-Islam agents in the country; the country still seems to be dying a slow and agonizing death? You wail and shriek in the loudspeaker after each Jumma prayer, cursing the enemies of Islam and imploring God to destroy the enemy; you call your followers to rise up in Jihad.. You make them promise to hate and despise everyone not practicing proper Islam.. Its you and millions of your colleagues.. constantly and eagerly preaching the Islam you were taught in these seminaries.. but to what end?

There must be something seriously wrong with the kind of Islam being taught in these seminaries. My dear Maulvis, you will be quick to blame western ways of life and Jewish-Christian conspiracies for the state of our country. But, has the sheer number of people practicing the correct kind of Islam not been able to make even a tiny bit of difference to the nation?

A country’s health care status can be easily assessed by the number of Physicians per capita. A nations spiritual health, by the same standards should be directly related to the number of Maulvis per capita.

Ladies and gentlemen, I can proudly announce that no other nation in history has had so many spiritual/moral surgeons per capita as Pakistan. We must be a nation destined for paradise. And our surgeons are eager to get us there post-haste.

Credit: http://www.lutfulislam.co.cc/2010/08/mullah-per-capita.html

My comments: Though I don’t share all the points raised in the above note by the author simply because I consider Madrassa system in a poor country like Pakistan is probably the best NGO system in the whole world which is helping poor majority of Pakistanis. But, nonetheless, author did raise some good points for all of us to at least have a reality check to re-think about the social mistakes and preferences we make in our daily lives as Pakistanis. We need to reinforce the good education system so at least every poor child has an option  whether he wants to be a doctor/ Engineer or just rather go to a Madrassa education for his own spiritual advancement.

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The playboy son of Pakistan’s president yesterday faced damaging claims that he was exploiting his country’s devastating floods to boost his political career.

Oxford graduate Bilawal Zardari, 21, angrily described as a ‘lie’ the accusation that the five-day visit to the UK by his father, Asif Zardari, was a springboard for his own ambitions.

Bilawal’s outburst, made as he launched an appeal for flood aid, is the latest controversy to overshadow a visit already hit by a diplomatic row over Islamabad’s alleged links to terrorism and growing outrage at the President’s absence during one of the country’s worst-ever disasters.

More than 1,500 people have died and 13 million have been affected, with more rain expected.

Bilawal’s mother was the former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated at a political rally soon after her return from exile in 2007.

Bilawal became co-chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), now the ruling party, which has always been led by a Bhutto or Zardari.

However, Bilawal is yet to take an active part in politics. He was expected to accept sole party chairmanship when he joined his father at a rally of British Pakistanis in Birmingham yesterday, but it is thought the plan was aborted at the last minute as advisers realised it could fan anger back home.

Asked if he was using his father’s visit to launch his career, Bilawal said: ‘This is not the time to play politics. We need to do whatever is necessary to help our brothers and sisters in Pakistan.’

He then denied he ever intended to appear at the rally, shouting: ‘That’s a lie.’

He added: ‘I was never going to the rally in Birmingham. I am going to complete my education as my mother wished me to. That is all I am going to do. My father’s doing all he can to raise aid for the people of Pakistan.

‘He’s already received £20 million from the British. If he thought he could be more use in Pakistan he’d be there.’

However, giant banners at the rally read ‘Welcome Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’ alongside his portrait, suggesting  he was expected.

One listener called President Zardari’s hour-long speech at the rally ‘a coronation speech without the person due to be crowned’.

An elderly man who heckled the president and threw a shoe in his direction was manhandled out of the hall shouting: ‘Zardari is a thief’. He was taken away by police.

 Audience member Kadeer Arif, from Birmingham, left in disgust. He said: ‘The speech was pathetic. The people in Pakistan need leadership at this difficult time. What on earth is he doing here?’

Bilawal graduated from Christ Church College, Oxford, this summer, having earned a playboy reputation there. 

Social networking websites show pictures of him with his arms around attractive women, and record conversations in which he refers to the joys of ‘free alcohol’ and a girl called ‘Boozie Suzie’.

There is no proof that Bilawal drinks alcohol, which is forbidden for Muslims in Pakistan, where relations between men and women are also carefully controlled.

But he threw himself into college social life, including the annual Cardinals’ Cocktails event, where students drink as many cocktails as they can for £10. Only a few students can join the society and are initiated by ‘downing’ a bottle of port and eight pints of beer.

One picture, taken during his first year, shows him with two girls, Julia Caterina Hartley and Kirini Kopcke, described as being ‘engaged’ to each other.

The origin of other internet images seeming to show him in a clinch with a girl is less certain: some claim they were mocked up to discredit him. A Zardari spokesman was yesterday silent on the matter.

Meanwhile, Pakistanis are grappling with skyrocketing fruit and vegetable prices Sunday caused by floods that have destroyed more than 1 million acres of crops and left at least 4 million people in need of food assistance in the coming months.

The rising prices threaten to amplify misery in a country where many residents were already struggling with poverty and food insecurity before the worst flooding in Pakistan’s history struck about two weeks ago, killing 1,500 people and leaving millions more begging for help.

The prices of basic items such as tomatoes, onions, potatoes and squash have in some cases quadrupled in recent days, putting them out of reach for many Pakistanis who struggled to get by even before the floods hit.

‘It is like a fire erupted in the market,’ said Mohammad Siddiq as he purchased vegetables in the city of Lahore. ‘Floods and rains have made these things unaffordable.’

Pakistan has worked with international partners to rescue more than 100,000 people and provide food and shelter to thousands more. But the government has struggled to cope with the scale of a disaster that it estimates has affected 13 million people, and could get worse as heavy rains lashed Pakistan again on Sunday.

Many flood victims have complained they have not received aid quickly enough or at all, and this anger could increase as rising food prices across the country affect many more people in this nation of 180 million.

‘The floods have destroyed the agricultural fields and washed away vegetable crops ready for harvest,’ said Zahid Gardezi, a farmer in the central Pakistani city of Multan.

‘Whatever farmers stored they cannot transport because roads have washed away and communication links are down.’

At least 1.4 million acres of crops were destroyed in the central province of Punjab, the breadbasket for the rest of Pakistan, said the U.N.

Many more crops were devastated in the northwest, where destruction from the floods has been most severe and many residents were still trying to recover from intense battles between the Taliban and the army last year.

‘The flooding has caused massive damage to crops and also to the reserve that people had at their houses,’ said Amjad Jamal, spokesman for the World Food Programme, which has provided food to more than 265,000 people in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

‘Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was a food insecure province even before the floods, and a lot of areas are such that people can’t afford even one meal a day,’ said Jamal.

At least 4 million people will need food assistance across Pakistan for the next three months at a cost of nearly $100 million, said Jamal.

The number of people needing assistance could increase as heavy rains continued to hit many areas of Pakistan on Sunday, swelling rivers and hampering relief work.

The Indus river overflowed its banks near the city of Sukkur in southern Sindh province on Sunday, submerging the nearby village of Mor Khan Jatoi with chest-high water and destroying many of its 1,500 mud homes.

‘We were strengthening the embankment ourselves to save the village but failed and it was breached this morning and water inundated the village,’ said one of the affected villagers, Dadal Morai, who complained they have not received any government help.

Many foreign countries have stepped in to help the government, including the U.S., which has pledged millions of dollars and provided six military helicopters to help evacuate victims from the northwest and deliver much needed food and water. About 85 U.S. soldiers are involved, though ongoing rain has limited their flights.

But the government has also had competition from hard-line Islamist charities that have provided victims with food and shelter, including one organization allegedly linked to the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, blamed for deadly attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai in 2008 that killed more than 160 people.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani asked for more help from the international community Sunday, saying the government couldn’t cope with the disaster on its own.

‘We will exhaust our resources to rescue, provide food, medicine and shelter, but it is beyond our capacity, so we will appeal to the world,’ said Gilani during a visit to Sukkur.

Source|Credit: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1301214/Pakistan-fury-presidents-playboy-son-using-floods.html#ixzz0wVvKyHZj

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My comments: Let’s hope other political leaders of Pakistan also follow your footsteps and make a donation from their own pockets and not from Govt. funds just to win the popularity contest.

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But the problem is that our leaders have the penchant of making good decisions look bad by implementing them in a dubious manner. The prime minister’s remark that all major stakeholders — the president, the prime minister, the Supreme Court, chief justice and the army chief — were in a ‘secure position’ until 2013 is a case in point. On the other hand, detractors of the government and a few media personnel, who had supported the appointment of ad hoc judges, are opposing the extension of the army chief. By highlighting the ‘heartburn’ of the military officers who will lose their promotions, efforts are being made to undermine respect for the chain of command, a hallmark of the Pakistan Army. These groups do not realise that by doing so, they are wittingly or unwittingly trying to sow seeds of dissension among the army personnel, who are known for their sacrifices. Forgoing a promotion would be a trivial matter for them. Nonetheless, there was no dearth of patriotic media persons who wrote appreciatively about the extension, which they considered to be imperative in order to take the military campaign against terrorists to its logical conclusion.

Almost all political parties have supported the move or given comments like those given by PML-N. Some PML-N leaders complained that the prime minister did not discuss the matter with Mian Nawaz Sharif. Maulana Fazlur Rehman also hinted that he was not taken into confidence. If we walk this road, then other questions emerge. Did Mian Nawaz Sharif take the late Benazir Bhutto into confidence when he showed the door to then COAS Jehangir Karamat? Had Mian Nawaz Sharif consulted Mohtarma Bhutto when he appointed Pervez Musharraf as COAS, superseding General Ali Quli Khan, who immediately resigned? Knowing Mian sahib’s temperament, one could say that no such matters were discussed in the cabinet. According to reports, at the sacking of Pervez Musharraf, Mian Nawaz Sharif called the then Defence Secretary General Iftikhar and discussed the matter. General Iftikhar had reportedly suggested letting Pervez Musharraf return from Sri Lanka and then be shown a ceremonial exit, but the suggestion was ignored. The problem with our leaders is that they do not want to consult others on issues of national importance but expect others to take them into confidence.

There is no denying that General Kayani has conducted himself admirably during the last three years and stayed away from politics. He salvaged the situation when the government and opposition were on a collision course during the movement for the restoration of the judiciary. He is perhaps the first army head that strictly directed all officers of the Pakistan Army to avoid politics in line with the established rules and did not call any politician to GHQ. In a letter written to officers, he stated the role of the armed forces was already defined in the country’s laws and constitution, adding that the officers should not indulge in any profit-making venture other than their salary and perks as per their ranks. Following his directives, army officers deployed in civil departments were recalled to their units, a move that was appreciated by the people at large. The point here is that while people have often welcomed the promulgation of martial law, the writers and intellectuals have criticised and condemned it because the constitution is thrown to the winds. Nevertheless, one should appreciate an army chief who performs his duties within the parameters of the constitution.

Except for pseudo-intellectuals, who have a passion for Pakistan-bashing and wish to see clashes between the state’s pillars, all other groups will admit that the military is not involved in politics today and, according to reports, the political wing of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was also closed three years ago. The self-righteous and ‘paragons’ of scruples should not offer suggestions to the army chief to not accept the extension, which reportedly has been done. It is noteworthy that when General Kayani took over as COAS, terrorists had traumatised the people of the northwest and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The writ of the state did not exist in Swat and Malakand, as the civil administration was on the run. Even political leaders had abandoned their abodes to find safe havens. In FATA, extremists had either killed political agents or forced them to quit the region. Today, however, Swat and Malakand have been cleared and the operation in South Waziristan has been completed. A lot still has to be done, which justifies the extension of the COAS. It is hoped that he will lead the military to higher pinnacles of professionalism and preparedness during his next three years.

The writer is a freelance columnist. He can be reached at mjamil1938@hotmail.com

* Read original post here: Idealism versus pragmatism

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Source: http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=254013

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