Ripple Effect

Contempt of the People The Supreme Court issued the contempt of court notice to Mr. Imran Khan contending that Mr. Khan has initiated a campaign to deliberately “scandalize” the judiciary. Looking at the record of the recent years, to the cynic it might seem that the court is rather easily “scandalized”. The suggestively named offense of scandalizing the court is a common law offense, which is now becoming extinct in most countries. In 1899, a U.K. court in the case of Mcleod vs. St. Aubyn , observed, "Committals for contempt of court by scandalizing the court itself have become obsolete in this country.... But it must be considered that in small colonies, consisting principally of colored populations, the enforcement in proper cases of committal for contempt of court for attacks on the court may be absolutely necessary to preserve in such a community the dignity of and respect for the court." So, while not good enough for the “civilized” world, it...

Anonymous I joined the Pakistan army as a junior cadet in 1981 and graduated as a second lieutenant in September 1985. The graduation followed ten years of service in infantry that involved tours of duty in Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab, the Siachin Glacier, deployment to the first Gulf War, and two tours of duty at the School of Infantry and Tactics. Until I resigned my commission in 1996, I was the most die-hard infantry officer: trained to be a leader of men, highly disdainful of all things civilian, and a strong believer in the absolute superiority of the Armed forces as compared to their civilian counterparts. This brief article, thus, is based on my personal experiences of being an officer and also a reflective inquiry into the structuring of an army officer’s subjectivity. My account, however, is in no way exhaustive and cannot possibility be read as an all-encompassing explanation for the actions and beliefs of all Pakistan army officers. The way we we...

With all the hullabaloo about Shamsi airbase I remembered that when I did this story for The News (http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=163174&Cat=2&dt=2/18/2009) (and The Times of London picked it up the next day), I had at least a couple of pictures which clearly showed that Pakistani military (army and airforce) officers had been the airbase and American officers had shown them around -- the pictures (see for yourselves) show them being shown one of the parked drones -- this picture must be circa 2007 so it was under the government of Pervez Musharraf -- and in one of them the American military official is partly shielded -- his upper torso. Another shows a Pakistan army and airforce officer from behind -- and to their left can be seen two US soldiers -- side-on. In two of these pictures, Pakistani military officials can be clearly seen.

Dear all, The other day, while traveling between Islamabad and Muzaffarabad, I noticed a queue of hundreds of vehicles near Banni Pari village which had been stopped by the Frontier Works Organization (FWO) without any warning as they were carrying out road construction in the area. When I got down and ask FWO personnel after introducing myself that why didn't they detail someone at Jheeka Galli to guide/inform the motorists to take alternative route if the road had to be blocked for 3 hours, much to my horror I had to face the most hostile attitude from them, mainly because being a (commercial) subsidiary of Pakistan army they considered themselves above questioning. An official in civvies, who introduced himself to me as Major Hassan, said it was not his responsibility to depute anyone to inform the motorists/commuters at Jheeka Galli about the road blockade and that I was nobody to ask such questions to him and instead I should talk to the DC (DCO) and other administration offic...

The Snare Letter to Editor When I heard, I didn’t believe it. The members of an American delegation then on official visit to Pakistan entered the office of a major general (now retired) who was serving at a pivotal post, and during the course of meeting presented him the keys of a bullet proof vehicle they brought along with them from Washington. They were keenly concerned about the safety and security of the general, of course. But to their utter surprise, the general refused to accept the gift, saying his institution had provided him enough to meet his transport and security needs. I couldn’t believe that a General in the Pakistan GHQ would refuse the Americans. He paid the cost and retired as major general but why did he refuse the gift? “Such bullet proof vehicles are secure, but serve the purpose of dubbing exclusive or private conversations which they can use to achieve their ends. Already our everything is being recorded by mobile phone companies, the Blackberry has server in A...

A journalist based in Parachinar sent this to me -- its here unedited, uncut -- might be a bit obtuse at times but worth a read After Nine-Eleven when fierce game started at the name of terrorism, this fierce game not only compelled the thousands of people to exclude them from their ancestor areas, but it was also the harmful reason for the “Educational Murder” of tribal students. Bright and shined future of tribal students has been made darken by the terrorists. The innocent children, who might have a pen and book, were forced to hold on weapon and explosive material. Suicides were trained to kill their own Pakistanis. This bloody game and tribal students “Educational Murder” are still continued. Terrorism in Pakistan and especially in tribal areas is the part of the Worldly conspiracy. But names of some Pakistani Agencies have been also included in this list of terrorism doubtfully with continuation. Misunderstood policies of rulers and government made the common people doubtful abou...

I received this from 'international professor' -- a nutjob, a whacko for sure -- but one thing stood out -- in recent days people keep asking why the navy, why target the navy -- part of his longer email, reproduced below, i think explains why the navy is being targeted -- read and see for yourself Naval base PNS Mehran was sold like Shamsi air base International Professor Some months ago U.S. administration awarded “Legion of Merit” to Admiral Noman Bashir, people astonished that what kind of links Pakistan Navy has with war of terror, because Pakistan’s areas chosen by U.S. for operational purposes like Swat, Malakand and FATA or outside Pakistan like Afghanistan have no links with sea. Most people are not aware of the fact that Pakistan Navy is fighting U.S. war of terror like Pakistan army and Pakistan air force devotedly and its mercenaries services are mostly outside boundaries of Pakistan. According to Associated Press dated: Jan 04, 2011 the Air Chief Marshall Rao Qamar...