Ahmad Rashid has found his place in the glittering firmament of Pakistan’s liberal intellectual class once more. This he has done by virtue of his stellar piece entitled “Is Democracy Dying in Pakistan?” which recently appeared in Foreign Affairs magazine. For those hankering after pearls of rare wisdom, I quote below the gems I consider will immortalize him. Following each such quote, I am taking the liberty to give my comments, being conscious all the while of the hazards of taking on a giant of Mr Rashid’s literary and intellectual prowess.
” the army has restricted Dawn’s sale in bases across the country. Distributors, meanwhile, have been told not to sell it, TV providers are refusing to run its news channel, and the newspaper is unavailable in large parts of Balochistan, the country’s largest province.”
ThismustbeagreatlossindeedtothepeopleofBaluchistan.Foraswe all know so well the largest and most avid readership of Dawn was always in this province.
Asfarasthe“bases”wherethemilitaryhasrestrictedthesaleofDawn is concerned, I have lived in one of these bases for the last ten years.
AndIhavereceivedDawnwithregularity.I’vecalledupfriendsinone cantonment after another. NONE of those subscribing to Dawn substantiated the allegation made by the author.
“Our hawkers are being stopped, they are being threatened and they have had their newspapers removed,” Hameed Haroon, chief executive of the Dawn Media Group, told a gathering of senior editors in mid-June. He also said the freedom of the press was being undermined by “state institutions.”
Indeed.AndMrRashidswallowedupHameedHaroon’sallegations hook line and sinker…just like a good journalist ought to do!
“The national media environment is dismal. Pakistan ranks 139 out of 180 on the World Press Freedom Index.”
If Ahmad Rashid had taken the trouble of going one notch lower in the indexhehasquoted,hewouldhavefoundthatstandingproudlyat138 was India, where the military was not interfering, and which happens to be the largest democracy in the world! But how could a star on the ascendant be expected to “go a notch lower”?
“The past two years have also seen multiple disappearances and kidnappings of journalists and other activists, some of whom were freed after several weeks or months in detention but have been too afraid to say who kidnapped them or why.”
Itisreasonabletoexpectvictimsofkidnappingsanddisappearancesto be “afraid to say who kidnapped them or why.” But from the article it wouldnotberemissofonetogatherthatthesevictimsputtheirfaithin Mr Rashid and told him their tales of woe. Otherwise, how did he come to know all this? Thus, it is either the victims or Mr Rashid who knows these dark secrets. And no one else.
” Some of those who chose to seek refuge abroad after being freed have admitted to being beaten and tortured, although they have not named the perpetrators.”
Again, those beaten and tortured have not named the perpetrators to anyone but to Mr Rashid. He must elicit a huge amount of trust among thosethathavebeenhumiliatedorwronged.Andthismustbeduetohis well-known exertions in the service of humanity, and great courage which shines out periodically in his writing!
” In early June, the prominent journalist and TV pundit Gul Bukhari, who had been critical of the military in blog posts, was kidnapped on her way to a TV studio in the center of Lahore by five carloads of men.
Fortunately, she was quickly freed. Only a day before Bukhari was picked up, army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said in a press conference that the army was not dictating to the media but was carefully watching the social media accounts, which he referred to as “troll accounts,” of several mainstream journalists.”
This is brilliant. Gul Bukhari, a lady, is picked up by five carloads of men,noless.Butshewasquicklyfreed.Dareoneaskhow,andby whom?
But what is beyond brilliant is that only the day before Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor“thearmyspokesman”declaredthatthearmywascarefully “watching” the social media accounts……and poof, the next day Miss Bukhari is kidnapped by five carloads of men. Must be the army? Right?Afterall,didnotGenAsifGhafoorletthecatoutofthebagjust the day before?
“The crackdown on media has taken place amid high levels of tension between the military and judicial establishment and the outgoing Pakistan Muslim League government over alleged corruption by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and PML legislators. “
MrRashiddoesnotcomefromtheranksoflessermortals.Unlikemost ofus,heisanalumnusofCambridge.Beingthatheshouldhaveknown that once a person has been convicted by a court of law, he is no longer an“alleged”criminal. ButIguesstheauthormusthavemissedthisone out on account of his unbridled moral affinity with the Sharif family which can clearly bedeciphered between the lines.
” Meanwhile, some PML candidates running in the elections were asked by intelligence agencies to drop their party membership and join other parties or stand as independents.”
Praywhoarethesepeople.Theymusthavenames.Oraretheylikethe victims of kidnapping who trust only Mr Rashid and no one else!
“In conducting this anti-PML campaign, the military is tapping into a populist vein, pushing a narrative that civilian politicians have milked the country dry with their corruption while portraying itself as determined to help clean up the political stage.”
Beingaseniorjournalisthavingclaimstorespectability,canMrRashid point to an iota of evidence about the military “portraying” itself, as he has claimed it is doing. All I ask is for ONE piece of evidence. Or should we take him at his word just because he went to Cambridge?
“As part of this push, the Supreme Court earlier this year ordered all candidates in the elections to reveal details of their assets and wealth. “
Come now Ahmad Rashid, you of all people ought to know that the asset forms were a part of the nomination forms, till they were surreptitiously made redundant by the so-called “democrats” on whose behalf you are now hollering. You know full well how the Supreme Court merely rehabilitated the gist of these forms, and you know the circumstances under which this was done. So, stop taking us for a ride. ButIapologize.Itisnotusyouwanttotakeforaride,butyourmasters abroadwhomyousoobviously serve.
“A creeping coup has taken place against the authority of the civilian government,” said Farhatullah Babar, an outspoken former senator and prominent opposition leader. “It is different from the martial law of the past, with two resulting outcomes: the civilian government exists, but has no authority; …”
And now we are introduced to the “outspoken” Farhatullah Babar. He, likehiscompatriotsRazaRabbaniandAitzazAhsan,aretoowellknown for having thundered against the unchecked depredations of Asif Ali Zardari for over two decades. So, you want to call a witness Mr Rashid? You would do well to name someone who has something remotely resembling a spine. Your choice of alibi is a reflection on your ownsorry self.
“Although the elections are being supervised by a neutral interim civilian government, the real power appears to rest with Pakistan’s military and judiciary, which see undiluted democracy as a threat.”
It would have been a trifle more honest of Ahmad Rashid, had he informed his western audience that the interim government he has talked about was put in place after agreementbetweenZardariandNawazSharif,thetwoarchcriminalsofPakistan.Butof course,hewon’tmakethatclear,becauseifhedidso,thewholeedificeofhispiecewould crumble. For then his handlers, or at least his editors may have been compelledtoask,thatifthesetwocrooksjointlychosetheinterimgovernment,howcome this vastly erudite author was trying to blame the army and the judiciary for all sorts of wrongdoing?
Be that as it may, what fixes Ahmad Rashid firmly in the ranks of guttersnipes is his allusion to “undiluted democracy” that he has referred to without deigning to say one word about what this “democracy” has given us. Except talking of Nawaz Sharif’s “alleged” corruption there is not a single word or comment in his masterpiece stating the economicwoesofPakistani.ethatPakistanhasbeenwellandtrulybankruptedinthelast ten years by what he has the utter dishonesty to call “undiluted democracy”. He does not say that Pakistan’s external debt in the its first sixty years has more than doubled in the lasttenyears.Hedoesnotsaythatagoodpartofthisdebtwasduedirectlytotheplunder committed on the people of Pakistan by Zardari, Nawaz Sharif, Asfandyar Wali, Mulla Fazal, Altaf Hussain and Achakzai and all the others who signed the Charter of Democracy and gifted us this “undiluted democracy”. He does not say that Pakistan’s current situation is no less catastrophic than it was in 1971. We have actually been defeated. The enemies of the state are these people who waged economic warfare on Pakistan and defeated it. And those like Ahmad Rashid, Hussain Haqqani, Najam Sethi, HameedHaroon,andAbbasNasirwhoseintellectualbehindsarechewingcudinthecool comfort of their homes while providing alibis to those who have ravaged the state, are traitors to this land, pure and simple and need to be dealt with accordingly. They are the propaganda arm of the same enemy, and are enemies no less. They are the direct reason why millions upon millions of our people go hungry, have no education, will only have stunted growth, and will die without hope. It isabout time these people are called out and dealt with for the murder of millions, and the murder of hope.
And why do you think it is that writers in India, and in the west generally, also evade the issue of what our “democratic” leadership has done to Pakistan? Why is there not a whisper issuing from them about the heartless plunder this land has been subjected to? What is it that holds the likes of Nawaz Sharif, Zardari, Ahmad Rashid, and Barkha Dutt together? What common interest binds them together if not the ultimate destruction of Pakistan? Does anyone still have any doubt about this?
Before I end, I must acquaint the readers with the magazine which took the trouble to print Ahmad Rashid’s article. This is the Foreign Policy magazine. As per Erdos & Morgan, this is the single most influential media organ, print or electronic, in the U.S— channels like Fox news, or the New York Times do not come even close. The magazine is ownedbytheCouncilofForeignRelations,themostinfluentialU.Sthinktank,whichtoa large extent helps tomould and craft U.S foreign policy. It is a transnational policy institution which also helps to further the cause of unshackled capitalism around the world.
There are only two Pakistanis who can hope to have their articles printed in Foreign Affairs.OneisHussainHaqqani,andtheotherisAhmadRashid.Sojustaddtwoandtwo to know where both of these are coming from. And given the fact that such substandard drivel as written by Ahmad Rashid could find print space in this magazine, it should help you get to know the pedigree of this Cambridge sleaze bag and the secret of the influence he wields in certain quarters abroad.