Highlights of the June 2008 issue
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Between the Lines
Idrees Bakhtiar
Had anyone made the effort to make an example of any of the dictators that have ruthlessly ruled over us, the people of this wretched country would have been spared the plight they have been suffering decade after decade. If any of them had been made to pay for what they had done to the nation, others would have refrained from acting recklessly.
The country would also have been saved from the humiliation of being ruled
by army juntas in the twenty-first century.
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Media Watch
Zohra Yusuf
The fact that private television channels in Pakistan enjoy unprecedented freedom is to a great extent due to the foundation for this elusive freedom laid down by the press. Today, independent television channels feel empowered enough to criticise dictators and throw barbs at the holy cows of the military and the bureaucracy. However, it is hard to imagine that this level of freedom would have been possible if the press had not stood up to bullying by the successive powers that be for decades.
Another development going in favour of the channels’ right to freedom of
expression is the support of citizens. It must be admitted that the
electronic media has involved ordinary people in a way that the print could
not — low literacy and laziness being prime barriers.
By Shahzada Zulfiqar
With a multi-billion-rupee debt and much internal political instability, Balochistan’s exceedingly large cabinet hardly seems financially feasible
Despite
having an absolute majority in the provincial assembly, the government of
Nawab Mohammad Aslam Khan Raisani, chief minister of Balochistan, is
struggling to keep a loose coalition together. Raisani’s problems in putting
together his cabinet proved how difficult it was for him to accommodate
competing demands from his disparate coalition partners. As a consequence, a
record 44 out of 62 members of the provincial assembly have become
ministers..…
By Muhammad Badar Alam
Salmaan Taseer fiasco will remain yet another irritant for a nascent and
already troubled PPP-PMLN coalition
Even
Salmaan Taseer was ‘surprised’ over his appointment as the governor of
Punjab. “It was a surprise for me also when the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)
called me and asked if I was willing to take the job and I said yes,” Taseer
tells the Herald in an interview.
Others are not convinced that it was as simple as that. “There is more to it than meets the eye,” says Raja Ashfaq Sarwar, a senior leader of Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PMLN), suggesting that actors other than the PPP leadership might have made his appointment possible. “It’s an attempt to satisfy quarters other than PPP,” he opines. But at the same time, Sarwar is averse to the idea that Taseer’s choice as governor is part of some conspiracy. “Taseer will be the last man to become part of an intrigue.”
“The window of opportunity is still open”
By Massoud Ansari
Mian
Nawaz Sharif, head of Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz, has pulled out his
party members from the federal cabinet after the government failed to
restore the sacked judges on May 12. Since then, he has put one condition
for rejoining the cabinet: restore the judges through a resolution of the
National Assembly followed by an executive order. While Asif Zardari and his
Pakistan Peoples Party, the senior partner in the coalition government in
Islamabad, are touting a constitutional package to put several things
including the judges’ restoration as well as clipping the powers of General
(retd) Pervez Musharraf, Sharif remains inflexible. Here he talks to the
Herald to explain why and gives his side of the story on many other thorny
issues
By Massoud Ansari
Is it Musharraf’s turn to bow out now?
As
the month drew to an end, rumours were doing the rounds in political circles
that General (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s long stint in power was drawing to a
close. With some significant changes having taken place in the army
leadership only recently, could this be the beginning of the end to
Musharraf era? By some signs, it certainly is.
The
calm blue sea stretches endlessly before one’s eyes and the quiet is broken
only by the sound of waves and the screeching of birds. This is Gwadar Port,
inaugurated on March 20, 2007 by General (retd) Pervez Musharraf. But the
picture-perfect environs of the port present a disturbing sight:
By Maqbool Ahmed
Corruption in land allotment at two government-run housing schemes in Gwadar is public knowledge but it hardly creates a stir
Real
estate planning and development in Gwadar is marred by corruption and
irregularities in the departments responsible for allotting the land. This
has led to resentment among local residents, who are mostly poor, uneducated
and have little influence. Development is seen as depriving the local people
of their lands to lure in others from various parts of the country, and this
anger may be justified.
“The Pakistani music industry has saturated”
By Zohair Abbasi
Creating
hybrid music from Eastern melodies and pop/rock instrumentation, Fuzön –
guitarist Shallum Xavier, keyboardist Imran Momina aka Immu and classical
singer Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan – burst onto the scene with a smash-hit debut
album in 2002. Thereafter Khan went his own way and was replaced by vocalist
Rameez Mukhtar. Here, the new Fuzön talks to the Herald about the band’s
sophomore effort Journey and Pakistani contemporary music.
By Mehreen Hamdany
Misyar marriages can destroy moral values as well as the sanctity of traditional marriage
Sixteen-year-old
Ayesha Maktoum’s mother wants to get her married off as soon as possible.
However, she realises that because the family recently migrated to Jeddah,
Saudi Arabia, from Syria it might be difficult to meet prospective suitors.
In addition, the mother worries that their humble background will also make
finding a suitable husband for her daughter next to impossible. “A misyar
marriage is the only option,” she says flatly.
A misyar marriage is a Sunni marriage contract — with a difference.
By Salman Rashid
A disputed coal mine comes alive with activity — and economic prosperity
Kamal
Khan Nasir of the Nasir sub-tribe of Pashtuns hails from Loralai district.
In the year 2000 he begged and borrowed from everyone he knew to invest 20
million rupees in the Chamalang coal mines in Duki subdivision of Loralai.
In 2002, Nasir absconded with over 18 million rupees outstanding as debt
against him.
No one, save his nearest family, knew where he was and over the next four
years he returned home just once on Eid to meet his aging mother.