Sometime during the prime-ministerial reign of Benazir Bhutto, bank accounts were opened in her and her husband’s name in Switzerland and it is suspected that laundered money was transferred in them. It seems very unlikely that the prime minister herself would have performed any illegal acts. However, the possibility that her personal business/financial managers might have been involved in unlawful activities without her knowledge can not be ignored. If so, those faceless men have brought disgrace to both Benazir and the Pakistani nation and they must not be spared. The Swiss cases must be reopened and the men and women who conspired to use the name of respectable Pakistanis to achieve their own foul ends must be given exemplary punishment and the name of Benazir Bhutto must be cleared.
I fully endorse the wisdom of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to reopen the Swiss cases and appeal to the government of Pakistan to act on the verdict without wasting time-- in greater national interest.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
More Definitions-2
Cinema = Illusion of motion of objects by sequential display of images
Divorce = Dissolution of marriage frequently as a result of both spouses trying to exploit the other's weaknesses
Drone attack = Cowardly part of war of terror
Hell = Nightmares in eternal sleep
Horrorism = American policy of subduing military and political opponents by creating horror. Examples are Germany and Japan where they succeeded and Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan where they failed.
Natural Selection = Diminution of vulnerability beyond extinction threshold
Paradise = Sweet dreams in eternal sleep
TV = Substitution of mind and soul with sound and picture
Vikingism = Growing intellectual distortion in Northern Europe
Divorce = Dissolution of marriage frequently as a result of both spouses trying to exploit the other's weaknesses
Drone attack = Cowardly part of war of terror
Hell = Nightmares in eternal sleep
Horrorism = American policy of subduing military and political opponents by creating horror. Examples are Germany and Japan where they succeeded and Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan where they failed.
Natural Selection = Diminution of vulnerability beyond extinction threshold
Paradise = Sweet dreams in eternal sleep
TV = Substitution of mind and soul with sound and picture
Vikingism = Growing intellectual distortion in Northern Europe
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Who is Supreme?
Once again there is a confrontation between the presidency and the judiciary in Pakistan. The president has refused to accept the recommendations of the chief justice and notified judicial appointments at his discretion.
No matter what legal and constitutional experts say, the basic issue is:
Should individuals who are facing trial for criminal offences decide or even participate in the appointment of superior court judges?
The obvious answer is ‘NO’. So, the incumbent president, law minister and a host of other ministers should be barred from the exercise.
But the constitution requires that the appointments be issued by the president, and this can only happen if there is a new president.
The wise solution is that the president and all governors, ministers, advisors and ambassadors who are ‘subjudice’ should resign and should be replaced, after which the judiciary should respect the decisions of the government.
Mr. Zardari has already brought enough disrepute to the presidency of Pakistan and he should not add to his sins. Let us hope that he will not create a situation in which the civil servants will refuse to obey ministerial orders and friendly countries would declare our ambassadors persona non grata. If the impasse continues, there will have to be midterm elections which the opposition parties would sweep and then impeach him. The procedure has already been perfected by his own party.
No matter what legal and constitutional experts say, the basic issue is:
Should individuals who are facing trial for criminal offences decide or even participate in the appointment of superior court judges?
The obvious answer is ‘NO’. So, the incumbent president, law minister and a host of other ministers should be barred from the exercise.
But the constitution requires that the appointments be issued by the president, and this can only happen if there is a new president.
The wise solution is that the president and all governors, ministers, advisors and ambassadors who are ‘subjudice’ should resign and should be replaced, after which the judiciary should respect the decisions of the government.
Mr. Zardari has already brought enough disrepute to the presidency of Pakistan and he should not add to his sins. Let us hope that he will not create a situation in which the civil servants will refuse to obey ministerial orders and friendly countries would declare our ambassadors persona non grata. If the impasse continues, there will have to be midterm elections which the opposition parties would sweep and then impeach him. The procedure has already been perfected by his own party.
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
Row after NRO
Last night I watched Dr. Pirzada’s interview of Advocate Asma Jahangir regarding her article in the Dawn of 19th December, 2009 on the Supreme Court’s short judgment on NRO.
It was gratifying to note that most of her views were similar to my own opinions as already recorded in my blogs (Ideas for a New Millennium, URL: www. naseemmahnavi.blogspot.com). However on some points she demonstrated the same naiveté as is characteristic of our intellectuals and I feel compelled to put the record straight.
Somehow Ms Jahangir failed to realize that the present judicial setup in Pakistan is the only one in the world put in place by “people power” which places some unique burdens on it. Their judgments have to reflect popular sentiment whether or not the relevant definitive legislation which is supposed to reflect popular sentiment does so due to incompleteness or inadequacy or mischief.
Ms Jahangir is still talking of the three pillars of state which is a concept far left behind. In the modern day reality state and sovereign do not exist. Countries are governed by a collective national leadership composed of political, economic, military, educational, creative, productive etc segments comprising of legitimate achievers in their own fields. The political segment is formed by conforming noncontroversial leaders who migrate from other segments to form a body that directs public opinion and national affairs.
These various segments of national leadership are supposed to carryout internal ethical audits through closed door accountability and mutual criticism. As a distinguished member of the judicial segment of the national leadership Ms Jahangir has a right and duty to review the actions of her peers. But it would have been better if she had chosen a less populist or less vulgar forum such as the Bar council to air her view and chastised the erring judges out of public view. The way she has acted to wash judicial dirty linen in the public some television joker might call her a lousy “dhoban.” Not that it would diminish her achievements.
The process of national catharsis that seems to have started by default on the erasure of the NRO should continue and every sensible person who does not have skeletons in his or her closets should support it. It is a pity that Dr. Pirzada failed to ask the lady whom she would support if there was another confrontation between the judiciary and the presidency. My choice is obvious.
It was gratifying to note that most of her views were similar to my own opinions as already recorded in my blogs (Ideas for a New Millennium, URL: www. naseemmahnavi.blogspot.com). However on some points she demonstrated the same naiveté as is characteristic of our intellectuals and I feel compelled to put the record straight.
Somehow Ms Jahangir failed to realize that the present judicial setup in Pakistan is the only one in the world put in place by “people power” which places some unique burdens on it. Their judgments have to reflect popular sentiment whether or not the relevant definitive legislation which is supposed to reflect popular sentiment does so due to incompleteness or inadequacy or mischief.
Ms Jahangir is still talking of the three pillars of state which is a concept far left behind. In the modern day reality state and sovereign do not exist. Countries are governed by a collective national leadership composed of political, economic, military, educational, creative, productive etc segments comprising of legitimate achievers in their own fields. The political segment is formed by conforming noncontroversial leaders who migrate from other segments to form a body that directs public opinion and national affairs.
These various segments of national leadership are supposed to carryout internal ethical audits through closed door accountability and mutual criticism. As a distinguished member of the judicial segment of the national leadership Ms Jahangir has a right and duty to review the actions of her peers. But it would have been better if she had chosen a less populist or less vulgar forum such as the Bar council to air her view and chastised the erring judges out of public view. The way she has acted to wash judicial dirty linen in the public some television joker might call her a lousy “dhoban.” Not that it would diminish her achievements.
The process of national catharsis that seems to have started by default on the erasure of the NRO should continue and every sensible person who does not have skeletons in his or her closets should support it. It is a pity that Dr. Pirzada failed to ask the lady whom she would support if there was another confrontation between the judiciary and the presidency. My choice is obvious.
Monday, December 07, 2009
NRO
The full bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan is to start hearing the cases against the infamous NRO from 7th December, 2009. So this is the last chance of commenting on it.
As a result of the recent disclosures about NRO the PPP has emerged as a party of pretty women and ugly men, while the MQM has become “mera qasoor maaf”.
One of the obvious shortcomings of the non-law NRO is that it does not define the terms used in it. It speaks of the withdrawal of “political cases”, on the basis of which criminal and corruption cases have been withdrawn. If political is interpreted as criminal or corrupt then politics becomes tantamount to crime and corruption, a notion that must be universally condemned.
The most significant action under the NRO was the withdrawal of the Cotecna kick-back case from the Swiss courts. The fact is that Cotecna had bribed the government functionaries heavily to win a contract for assessing customs duty on imports at Pakistani ports. They used this position to make a list of the cosigners of those sensitive and defense related shipments which were exempted by government order from being examined by Cotecna; and sold it to the foreign agencies that had helped it in obtaining the contract. From these lists they were able to establish the identity of the Kahuta supply network which provided precision equipment and instrumentation for the uranium gas centrifuges being built there. Extremist Christian elements dubbed the Kahuta supply network, a legitimate business proposition, as the Khan nuclear proliferation network.
It is a pity that the brilliant Pakistani scientists who had made a technological breakthrough in which most western countries had failed, instead of being internationally acclaimed and rewarded were treated as wanted criminals.
In any case, the withdrawal of the case against Cotecna was abetment of international crime and treason against Pakistan. The NRO must be declared null and void ab initio and at least the Cotecna case must be reopened and the government of Pakistan should claim damages of at least ten billion dollars against Cotecna.
As a result of the recent disclosures about NRO the PPP has emerged as a party of pretty women and ugly men, while the MQM has become “mera qasoor maaf”.
One of the obvious shortcomings of the non-law NRO is that it does not define the terms used in it. It speaks of the withdrawal of “political cases”, on the basis of which criminal and corruption cases have been withdrawn. If political is interpreted as criminal or corrupt then politics becomes tantamount to crime and corruption, a notion that must be universally condemned.
The most significant action under the NRO was the withdrawal of the Cotecna kick-back case from the Swiss courts. The fact is that Cotecna had bribed the government functionaries heavily to win a contract for assessing customs duty on imports at Pakistani ports. They used this position to make a list of the cosigners of those sensitive and defense related shipments which were exempted by government order from being examined by Cotecna; and sold it to the foreign agencies that had helped it in obtaining the contract. From these lists they were able to establish the identity of the Kahuta supply network which provided precision equipment and instrumentation for the uranium gas centrifuges being built there. Extremist Christian elements dubbed the Kahuta supply network, a legitimate business proposition, as the Khan nuclear proliferation network.
It is a pity that the brilliant Pakistani scientists who had made a technological breakthrough in which most western countries had failed, instead of being internationally acclaimed and rewarded were treated as wanted criminals.
In any case, the withdrawal of the case against Cotecna was abetment of international crime and treason against Pakistan. The NRO must be declared null and void ab initio and at least the Cotecna case must be reopened and the government of Pakistan should claim damages of at least ten billion dollars against Cotecna.
Monday, November 02, 2009
More Taxes?
Mr. Shaukat Treen the financial advisor to GOP keeps saying that the tax to GDP ratio in Pakistan is only 9-10% which is too low and should be increased. He seems to forget that agriculture contributes 25% of Pakistan's GDP and agricultural income is not taxed. So the actual Tax/GDP ratio of taxed GDP is more like 12-14% which is higher than China, India, Bangladesh, Russia and perhaps even USA. Any further increase in the taxation of the industrial and services sectors would be simply criminal and counterproductive. After all Mr. Tareen is a highly respectd Banker but hardly an economist (which I am not either, but I try to get my sums right). Tax the agricultural income and all of Pakistan's economic woes will disappear. We might even become able to say "get lost" to Kerry-Lugar circus.
It is worth mentioning here that the actual government expenditure in Pakistan is over 20% of GDP including income from the giant state owned enterprizes; but offers none of the benefits enjoyed by the citizens of European countries with similar state expenditure ratio.
The reason why agricultural income is not taxed in Pakistan is that most of it goes into the pockets of a few dozen landlord families easily identified as Chaudhrys, Makhdooms, Sardars, Maliks and Pirs. Add to them the decendants of the knights and title holders of the British empire such as Bhuttos. Unfortunately for the peolple of Pakistan, these families also dominate the political scene and abort any initiative to tax agricultural income by conniving together and with military rulers.
Everywhere in the world the agricultural sector feeds the nation, but in Pakistan it fleeces and starves the nation with impunity.
It is worth mentioning here that the actual government expenditure in Pakistan is over 20% of GDP including income from the giant state owned enterprizes; but offers none of the benefits enjoyed by the citizens of European countries with similar state expenditure ratio.
The reason why agricultural income is not taxed in Pakistan is that most of it goes into the pockets of a few dozen landlord families easily identified as Chaudhrys, Makhdooms, Sardars, Maliks and Pirs. Add to them the decendants of the knights and title holders of the British empire such as Bhuttos. Unfortunately for the peolple of Pakistan, these families also dominate the political scene and abort any initiative to tax agricultural income by conniving together and with military rulers.
Everywhere in the world the agricultural sector feeds the nation, but in Pakistan it fleeces and starves the nation with impunity.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Kerry-Lugar - 2
On looking carefully at at the Kerry-Lugar Bill it is obvious that although the intentions of its initiators may have been noble, it has been used to renege on the three agreements reached with the government of Pakistan on Sept 30, 2006 and to create possible excuses for not honoring in future the commitments being made now.
It is true that the Americans are desperate to break the Indians away from the Russian who are still communists and have the Indians as their only allies, but they should not do so at the expense of the Kashmiris or the pride and honor of the Pakistanis.
It is now Pakistan's internal necessity to fight the Taliban insurgency, but the problem is far too complex to be solved by sheer military force. A lot needs to be done in the West if the growing trends the Islamic world are to be set in the right direction.
Christian extremism has existed for so long that it has become the norm in the West. The recent rise of Islamic extremism is a reaction to the awareness of realities gained in the past two decades mainly through the internet.
It is true that the Americans are desperate to break the Indians away from the Russian who are still communists and have the Indians as their only allies, but they should not do so at the expense of the Kashmiris or the pride and honor of the Pakistanis.
It is now Pakistan's internal necessity to fight the Taliban insurgency, but the problem is far too complex to be solved by sheer military force. A lot needs to be done in the West if the growing trends the Islamic world are to be set in the right direction.
Christian extremism has existed for so long that it has become the norm in the West. The recent rise of Islamic extremism is a reaction to the awareness of realities gained in the past two decades mainly through the internet.
Obama's Peace prize
President Obama should be congratulated on winning the Nobel Peace Prize. After all it is a prestigeous award. The interesting thing is that the Nobel Awards committe found none of the nomonations entered before the due date worthy of the award, which means that the world has run out of people with a record of working for peace. Another interesting news is that the UN is now prepared to try some Israelis for war crimes in Palestine. Does it have anything to do with President Obama, or have the influential American Jews finally and rightly realized that the Israelis do not belong to them? In the past the US had won notoriety for unjustifibly vetoing resolutions against Israel. Let us hope that the world is moving in the right direction and will continue to do so in future.
Friday, October 09, 2009
Kerry-Lugar
The Kerry Lugar Bill is perhaps the greates exercise in corruption ever made in the world. It aims to set aside 1.5 billion dollars every year half of which would be paid out to the US politicians' favorite consultants and the other half would be doled out to the relatives of Pakistani rulers. At the end of 5 years the Pakistani public would be saddled with a debt of 7.5 billion dollars and a hefty amount of interest which it will have to pay through the nose. It doesn't make any difference to the American public because money borrowed from the Chinese at a lower interest rate would be lent to the Pakistanis at a higher rate, so if anything they stand to gain from it.
If the Americans are really interested in helping Pakistanis and establishing a long-term relationship, they should double the money and direct it to providing loans at discounted rates for US-Pak private sector joint venture projects in power generation, mining, oil and gas exploration, coal gasification, basic chemical industries, industrial plant and machinery production and offer scholarships to Pakistani students for technical training and higher education in USA on merit. They could also spend some money on reducing the time taken for visa issuance to Pakistanis.
The absurdity of the Bill is that it makes "aid" for social and educational purposes conditional upon the actions of the military and intelligence organizations. It also intends to take away from the Pakistani people their right and duty of defending their national institutions. The worst part is that instead of being based on any laws or principles its dispensation is based entirely on the discretion of the Secretary of State. Will Hillary be remembered in history as the lady with the whip?
It seems that the Indian origin advisors of the US lawmakers have ensured that the bill would worsen rather than improve their relationship with Pakistan. The school home-work of most rich american kids is being done in India via internet, perhaps the same is true of the politicians. Or did the few extremist Christians of USA have a hand in it?
If the Americans are really interested in helping Pakistanis and establishing a long-term relationship, they should double the money and direct it to providing loans at discounted rates for US-Pak private sector joint venture projects in power generation, mining, oil and gas exploration, coal gasification, basic chemical industries, industrial plant and machinery production and offer scholarships to Pakistani students for technical training and higher education in USA on merit. They could also spend some money on reducing the time taken for visa issuance to Pakistanis.
The absurdity of the Bill is that it makes "aid" for social and educational purposes conditional upon the actions of the military and intelligence organizations. It also intends to take away from the Pakistani people their right and duty of defending their national institutions. The worst part is that instead of being based on any laws or principles its dispensation is based entirely on the discretion of the Secretary of State. Will Hillary be remembered in history as the lady with the whip?
It seems that the Indian origin advisors of the US lawmakers have ensured that the bill would worsen rather than improve their relationship with Pakistan. The school home-work of most rich american kids is being done in India via internet, perhaps the same is true of the politicians. Or did the few extremist Christians of USA have a hand in it?
Saturday, September 12, 2009
More Definitions - 1
1. Conservative = One having contempt for human weaknesses.
2. Constitution = A deliberated sacrosanct document used in countries with multi-religious populations as ultimate guidance for government and legislation without discrimination and acceptable to all segments of society for the regulation of their worldly affairs. In countries where more than 85% people adhere to a single religion, a secular constitution often becomes controversial.
3. Liberal = One having respect for human weaknesses.
4. Nineleven = Big farce, derived from 11th November, 2001 when simulation videos of the aerial impact of aircrafts on the World Trade Centre towers in New York were telecast while the buildings which had become unsafe due to a basement truck bomb attack in 1993 were demolished by sequentially controlled explosives planted at strategic points the night before. The operation was carried out after months of rumors that an aerial terrorist attack on New York was imminent. The planners had expected that that the buildings would be evacuated in an orderly manner after the initial explosions of petroleum drums on a few floors; they certainly had not anticipated that hundreds of firemen would rush in and die for nothing. The destruction was blamed by the US government on Osama Bin Laden a dissident Saudi who was blamed for explosive laden truck attack on US embassy in Sudan and was related by the extremist Christians to certain quatrains of Nostradamus.
5. Pakistan = South-Indian Muslim majority country formed in 1947 whose progress has been constantly impaired due to military conflict with neighboring India over Kashmir and internal conflict of interests and priorities between the armed forces and the rest of the population.
6. Statesman = One who can control others without annoying them.
7. Jinnahpur = Failed attempt by some British businessmen and their local friends to make Karachi an autonomous region that could be developed as a business hub to replace Hong Kong after its return to China in 1997. The idea was abandoned after competing cities of Dubai and Mumbai (Bombay) sponsored incessant violence and terrorism in Karachi which continued for years.
2. Constitution = A deliberated sacrosanct document used in countries with multi-religious populations as ultimate guidance for government and legislation without discrimination and acceptable to all segments of society for the regulation of their worldly affairs. In countries where more than 85% people adhere to a single religion, a secular constitution often becomes controversial.
3. Liberal = One having respect for human weaknesses.
4. Nineleven = Big farce, derived from 11th November, 2001 when simulation videos of the aerial impact of aircrafts on the World Trade Centre towers in New York were telecast while the buildings which had become unsafe due to a basement truck bomb attack in 1993 were demolished by sequentially controlled explosives planted at strategic points the night before. The operation was carried out after months of rumors that an aerial terrorist attack on New York was imminent. The planners had expected that that the buildings would be evacuated in an orderly manner after the initial explosions of petroleum drums on a few floors; they certainly had not anticipated that hundreds of firemen would rush in and die for nothing. The destruction was blamed by the US government on Osama Bin Laden a dissident Saudi who was blamed for explosive laden truck attack on US embassy in Sudan and was related by the extremist Christians to certain quatrains of Nostradamus.
5. Pakistan = South-Indian Muslim majority country formed in 1947 whose progress has been constantly impaired due to military conflict with neighboring India over Kashmir and internal conflict of interests and priorities between the armed forces and the rest of the population.
6. Statesman = One who can control others without annoying them.
7. Jinnahpur = Failed attempt by some British businessmen and their local friends to make Karachi an autonomous region that could be developed as a business hub to replace Hong Kong after its return to China in 1997. The idea was abandoned after competing cities of Dubai and Mumbai (Bombay) sponsored incessant violence and terrorism in Karachi which continued for years.
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