QOTD: Pakistan's One Unit

In 1954, forty-two years ago, when the One Unit issue was 
to be voted upon in the provincial assembly, the then chief minister, 
Mohammed Ayub Khuhro, in cahoots with his minister Pir Ali Mohammed Rashdi, 
realising that the honourable Mirs of Talpur would vote against their 
proposal, acted. Mir Ali Ahmed Talpur was arrested on a trumped-up charge, 
Mir Rasul Bakhsh Talpur managed to escape and hide, and the smallest and 
gentlest of the three, Mir Ghulam Ali Talpur, was bodily picked up and 
bundled off on the back of a camel to Mitthi, the same old Mitthi in the 
Thar desert.

- Ardeshir Cowasjee (18th July 1996) writing in the DAWN 

I have always found the creation of Pakistans one unit something of an amusement 

considering the intent behind it, the dominant West Pakistan elite fearing the 

Bengali majority wanted some form of parity with East Pakistan. So simple enough

solution ignore the ethnic, administrative and historic divisions in 'West Pakistan'

and just amalgamate them together into one unit. As a sop to the Pakhtunistan movement

inititally Peshawar was supposed to be West Pakistans provincial Capital but this was later

changed to Lahore.

I find the Bengali political leaders willingness to sacrfice their inherent majority 

status for the sake of national unity unusual and tragic. They obviously believed in the concept 

of Pakistan to an extent that they were willing to forego their own basic right of 

representation. It is tragic for several reasons, one is I cannot imagine something similar

happening in present day Pakistan. A ethnic group willingly surrender its unfluence 

somewhere for the greater good. Secondly is the simplistic approach that one unit reflected

sure enough when you look into its history you see the good old military establishments

finger prints over this overly simplistic solution to Pakistans problems. 

So if you have corrupt politicians ban politics, if you have tensions between ethnic groups

ban any reflections of ethnicitiy or diversity. And as the above quote shows...you do whatever it

takes to achieve the figleaf of legal support for your moves. 

It really would be funny if it wasn't so sad... 

QOTD: What Saleed Shahzad wrote..

Some quotes from this review of the late Saleem Shahzads book inside Al Qaeda and the Taliban: Beyond Bin Laden and 9/11 by Khaled Ahmad.

'There were at least 600,000 youths there since 1979. At least 100,000 Pakistanis were active members or different Jihadi cadres. Over 1 million students were enrolled in various Islamic seminaries, and there were several hundred thousand supporters of Pakistan's Islamic religious parties. The main handler of the Afghan Jihad against the Soviets had been Pakistan's army, which itself was not immune to the influence of radicalism. Several army officers had pledged their allegiance (bait) to different Jihadi spiritual leaders, including Maulana Akram Awan of Chakwal. These groups were known in the Pakistan Army as pir bhai groups.    pg 9

and this one...

'Major Haroon Ashiq hung up his boots right after 9/11. On his release from service, he joined LeT. One of my unit officers Major Abdul Rahman also followed suit. I joined the outfit soon after, without caring for the consequences' (p. 83).

Finally

For Captain Khurram faith came before country. While on a UN mission in Sierra Leone he clearly demonstrated it: 'Khurram built a mosque and a Madrassa in Sierra Leone, despite the opposition of his commander, Brigadier Ahmad Shuja Pasha, later chief of the ISI' (p. 85). Both brothers had joined the LeT, but had soon 'realised that the LET was just an extension of Pakistan's armed forces' (p. 86).

Quotes for the day: Ayub Khan & Ghulam Mohammed

Well actually two, both the result of a journalist with the nickname Pasha

"These civilians cannot be trusted with such sensitive matters of national security"
        -Commander in Chief Ayub Khans advice (1952) to Pakistani Military attache to the USA 

He also advised the bypassing of the ambassador and Foreign Minister in any military deals with the United States.

And the second quote Beside the Governor General stood the strongman of the Pakistan army, Major General Iskander Mirza. "I am dissolving the Constituent Assembly tomorrow," announced Ghulam to the Prime Minister. "You will remain Prime Minister, but you will reform your Cabinet. Major General Mirza will be your Minister of the Interior. General Ayub Khan will become Defense Minister as well as commander in chief . . ." Angrily, Ali turned on General Mirza and accused him of plotting behind his back; Mirza indifferently shrugged his big shoulders. Desperately, Ali wheeled back on the seated Ghulam. "Suppose I refuse?" Ghulam was inexorable and cold: ''Refusal is out of the question. You seem to forget I am head of state."

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,857631,00.html#ixzz1OhuF29UR

The King (Hussein) & the spy

"If a diplomat is an honest man sent to lie for his country, a spy is probably a dishonest man sent to lie for his country?

 This article caught my attention from the Washington Post, "A cautionary tale for Middle East peace". 

It goes to show you how even the most paranoid dictator can often have a point when they accuse everybody of being a CIA stooge!

I have to admit to always liking King Hussein, the man was a tenacious survivor but a  unsuccessful leader. He survived multiple assasination attempts, survived the wave of Arab Nationalism, confronted the very real possibility of his country being taken over by Black September and finally made peace with Israel. He did all this with no Oil and no real allies, so what if he was on the CIAs payroll?

A book review on a "King's Counsel", about a CIA operative who allegedly used to make regular payouts to the King Hussein of Jordan.

When O’Connell was station chief in Amman from 1963 to 1971, he dropped off monthly envelopes of cash at the palace as part of a long-running CIA covert action code-named “NOBEEF.”

I say allegedly because taking the word of a spy on what goes on has always stuck me as a contradiction in terms. If a diplomat is an honest man sent to lie for his country, a spy is probably a dishonest man sent to lie for his country? Maybe that is a bit cynical of me but hey hey ho.

A little side plug to a entertaining read of many 1970's leaders, the fact that the author turned into a right wing nut later on shouldn't detract you!


 A little excerpt from Anjum Niazs article in 2003 about her..


 Fallaci impugns homosexuals as "devoured... by the wrath of being half and half," and accuses feminists of "dreaming of being raped by bin Laden." For Fallaci each and every Muslim on the face of the earth is a "threat"! "Oh, I could go on ad infinitum. Tell you things never told, things to make your hair stand on end. About that dotard Khomeni, for example, who after our interview held an assembly at Qom to declare that I had accused him of cutting off women's breasts," fulminates Fallaci. "I could tell you about Mujibur Rahman, who, again at Dacca, had ordered his guerrillas to eliminate me as a dangerous European, and lucky for me an English colonel saved me at the risk of his life. God, what people!

"The only ones I've had a civil relationship with, remain poor Ali Bhutto, the first prime minister of Pakistan, who was hanged because he was too friendly to the West, and the most excellent king of Jordan: King Hussein. But those two were as Muslim as I am Catholic."