Rigging – A General Spills Beens

The main wheeler and dealer of the ISI during the 2002 elections, the then Maj-Gen Ehtesham Zamir, now retired, has come out of the closet and admitted his guilt of manipulating the 2002 elections, and has directly blamed Gen Musharraf for ordering so.

Talking to The News, the head of the ISI’s political cell in 2002, admitted manipulating the last elections at the behest of President Musharraf and termed the defeat of the King’s party, the PML-Q, this time “a reaction of the unnatural dispensation (installed in 2002).”

Zamir said the ISI together with the NAB was instrumental in pressing the lawmakers to join the pro-Musharraf camp to form the government to support his stay in power.

Looking down back into the memory lane and recalling his blunders which, he admitted, had pushed the country back instead of taking it forward, Zamir feels ashamed of his role and conduct.

Massively embarrassed because he was the one who negotiated, coerced and did all the dirty work, the retired Maj-Gen said he was not in a position to become a preacher now when his own past was tainted.

He said the country would not have faced such regression had the political management was not carried out by the ISI in 2002. But he also put some responsibility of the political disaster on the PML-Q as well.

The former No: 2 of the ISI called for the closure of political cell in the agency, confessing that it was part of the problem due to its involvement in forging unnatural alliances, contrary to public wishes.

Zamir’s blaming Musharraf for creating this unnatural alliance rings true as another former top associate of Musharraf, Lt-Gen (retd) Jamshed Gulzar Kiyani has already disclosed that majority of the corps commanders, in several meetings, had opposed Musharraf’s decision of patronising the leadership of the King’s party.

Ma-Gen (retd) Ehtesham Zamir termed the 2008 elections ‘fairer than 2002’. He said the reason behind their fairness is that there was relatively less interference of intelligence agencies this time as compared to the last time. But he stopped short of saying that there was zero interference in the 2008 polls.

“You are quite right,” he said when asked to confirm about heavy penetration of ISI into political affairs during the 2002 elections. But he said he did not do it on his own but on the directives issued by the government.

Asked who directed him from the government side and if there was somebody else, not President Musharraf, he said: “Obviously on the directives of President Musharraf.”

Asked if he then never felt that he was committing a crime by manipulating political business at the cost of public wishes, he said: “Who should I have told except myself. Could I have asked Musharraf about this? I was a serving officer and I did what I was told to do. I never felt this need during the service to question anyone senior to me,” he said and added that he could not defend his acts now.

“It was for this reason that I have never tried to preach others what I did not practice. But I am of the view that the ISI’s political cell should be closed for good by revoking executive orders issued in 1975,” he said.

Responding to a question regarding corruption cases that were used as pressure tactics on lawmakers, he said: “Yes! This tool was used, not only by the ISI. The NAB was also involved in this exercise.”

Proof of Rigging in Pakistan Elections

For the first time in the history of the country, a private news channel aired on Friday a video unmasking rigging in the February 18 elections in Pakistan. In the video, scenes of polls rigging from two polling stations of Karachi and Lahore were aired.

In one of the scenes, some armed persons were tearing ballot papers from a book, putting their thumb impression, stamping on the symbol of their favourite candidate (MQM’s) and stuffing the ballot boxes at a polling station. One of the women at the polling station was heard saying to one of the armed persons to take away his rifle. An unidentified female polling officer was also heard saying that the armed persons harassed them at gunpoint and bogus votes were polled after occupying the polling station.

At another polling station, the seal of the ballot box had been broken and an unidentified man was seeing in it after removing the cover. The video showed the armed persons entering the polling station and one of the officer also questioned as to how many armed persons entered the poling stations and how many bogus votes they cast.

The video showed that bogus votes were also being cast at one of the polling stations in PP-152 constituency of Lahore (Punjab).

Pakistan government has blocked Youtube in Pakistan which carried several video clips of rigging in the elections of February 18, 2008.

Don’t Interfere with Nature

“I remembered one morning when I discovered a cocoon in a bark of a tree, just as a butterfly was making a hole in its case and preparing to come out. I waited awhile, but it was too long appearing and I was impatient. I bent over it and breathed on it to warm it. I warmed it as quickly as I could and the miracle began to happen before my eyes, faster than life.

The case opened, the butterfly started slowly crawling out and I shall never forget my horror when I saw how its wings were folded back and crumpled; the wretched butterfly tried with its whole trembling body to unfold them. Bending over it I tried to help it with my breath. In vain.

It needed to be hatched out patiently and the unfolding of its wings should be a gradual process in the sun. Now it was too late. My breath had forced the butterfly to appear, all crumpled, before its time. It struggled desperately and, a few seconds later, died in the palm of my hand.

The little body is, I do believe, the greatest weight I have on my conscience, for I realize today that it is a mortal sin to violate the great laws of nature. We should not hurry, we should not be impatient, but we should confidently obey the eternal rhythm.”

Annonymous

Biased Wikipedia

Wikipedia, the so-called free online encyclopedia, is acting very partial and stubborn by refusing to remove depictions of the Prophet Muhammad May peace be upon him), despite being flooded with complaints from Muslims demanding the images be deleted.

Already 217,000 persons worldwide have joined an online protest claiming the images, shown on European-language pages, are offensive to Islam, which prohibits any representation of Muhammad. But the defiant editors of the encyclopaedia insist they will not bow to pressure and say anyone objecting to the controversial images can simply adjust their computers so they do not have to look at them.

Editors of Wikipedia maintain “So long as they are relevant to the article and do not violate any of Wikipedia’s existing policies, nor the law of the US state of Florida where Wikipedia’s servers are hosted, no content or images will be removed because people find them objectionable or offensive.”

This is the sort of impartiality, the non-Muslims in America and Europe have.

If you think that to hurt the feelings of one-sixth population of world is not a good action, sign the petition after clicking here.

Life

“This is the true joy in life: the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no ‘brief candle’ to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.”

George Bernard Shaw said it. And I have the same opinion.

Success ? ? ?

Successful people might be intelligent.
Or have had a socially well connected upbringings.
Or be naturally energetic and open and positive.

But following factors have made some prominent people successful:

Make decisions and take action, right or wrong, either way it is always better than making no decisions and taking no action at all.

Do act even when you do not feel like it. A lot of us back down when we don’t want to do something, even though it may eventually bring us to a wonderful experience or goal.

Do the most productive thing right now, instead of trapping yourself in doing productive but not so important tasks or projects, realise what is most important and do that.

Do one thing at a time because doing multi-task creates internal confusion, wastes time and spreads the multi-tasker too thinly.

Have a positive attitude because a negative attitude can be very damaging and limiting to one’s life. A positive one can open new doors every day.

The beard, the veil and the enlightened fools

I never thought my beard and my wife’s veil would become an obstacle for any of our children’s right to excel. But it did happen and that too in our enlightened Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

“Sir if you don’t mind we are looking for some moderate faces,” was the first words of an organiser that pierced through our ears as soon as we sat on a sofa in the school’s office where the crew of a private television channel had arrived to interview parents of three short-listed students, including my child, for some sort of show/competition in Karachi.

Before we could believe our ears, a suggestion came, “If we can go on camera without the veil.” The headmistress of the school, who too was present on the occasion, was stunned. But that was perhaps too much.

“Shame on you and hell with you and your competition,” was my spontaneous reaction, which served as a counter shock for the organiser, who though was not a journalist.

There was no ambiguity in our mind that there was no point wasting our time in the disgusting environment. My spouse, who is otherwise a soft, modest personality, was quick to suggest that we withdraw ourselves from the competition that humiliates our pride — the socio-religious values of our society.

As we stood up to leave, the organiser apologised and offered the explanation that he was conveying what he had been asked to do by his seniors. Indeed some strange people were pulling his strings from Karachi.

He said in some of his previous interviews, objection was raised on the veil so he got the directions to interview only moderate looking parents.

The school headmistress snubbed the organiser for coming up with such a stupid idea. She said she would not allow such things to happen in her school.

We were perhaps never as dumbfounded as a nation as we are today – thanks to the policy of enlightened moderation. And the organiser later admitted that he too was in favour of the Islamic dress code but was helpless before his seniors, who, he said, were dancing to the tune of the TV programme sponsor.

At the intervention of the headmistress and following unconditional apologies from the organiser, we hesitantly consented to give an on-camera interview but with the condition that our views on their attempt to pick “moderates” would be recorded and conveyed to the management of the television channel.

Apparently it was done but it is not clear if the views reached the quarters concerned though the clear message was “shame on you”.

Later in the afternoon when I went to the school to pick my children, my son’s first question was, “Baba, how was your interview?” Before I could give him my reply, he wondered: “If I am selected.”

I told him he would not take part in the competition in Karachi, whether he was selected or not.

“Why,” the innocent soul asked. I told him that the interviewer was interested only if his parents looked like “moderates”. I asked if he would want his father to shave his beard and his mother remove her veil to get him selected.

“Baba forget it. I am proud of what you are.” And for the enlightened but silly lot, we are proud of what we are and this is how we should be.

By Ansar Abbasi, a well educated, open minded, senior journalist
Published in “The News”, Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Freedom is Our Right

“Freedom is our right as it is for United States of America, United Kingdom and India”. Say the oppressed people of state Jammu Kashmir.

People of Jammu Kashmir want freedom and only solution to that is “the resolutions passed by the world body, UNO”.

This day all Muslims of the world show solidarity with the People of state Jammu Kashmir in their genuine struggle for their Freedom from forcible and cruel occupation by Indian armed forces.

Powers of the world, having their selfish interests in India, have turned blind eye to the oppressed people of Jammu Kashmir but the right cannot be turned into wrong.

Freedom struggle of people of Jammu Kashmir will succeed.

Reported Rape Cases in the World

DEFINITION: Total recorded rapes. Crime statistics are often better indicators of prevalence of law enforcement and willingness to report crime, than actual prevalence.

SOURCE: Seventh United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems, covering the period 1998 – 2000 (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Centre for International Crime Prevention)

Rape Cases per per Million of Population

1. South Africa =1,195.38 – - – - - 2. Seychelles =788.29

3. Australia = 778.00 – - – - – - 4. Montserrat = 749.38

5. Canada = 733.09 – - – - – - – - 6. Jamaica = 476.61

7. Zimbabwe = 457.78 – - – - – - 8. Dominica = 347.68

9. United States = 301.32 – - – - 10. Iceland = 246.01

11. Papua New Guinea = 233.54 – - 12 New Zealand = 213.38

13. United Kingdom = 142.17 – - – - 14. Spain = 140.40

15. France = 139.44 – - – - – - 16 Korea, South = 126.21

17. Mexico = 122.98 – - – - – - – 18. Norway = 120.84

19. Costa Rica = 118.28 – - – - - - 20. Venezuela = 115.51

21. Finland = 110.86 – - – - – - 22. Netherlands = 100.45

23. Denmark = 91.49 – - – - – - – 24. Germany = 90.97

25. Bulgaria = 79.60 – - – - – - – 26. Chile = 78.22

27. Thailand = 62.63 – - – - – - – 28. Kyrgyzstan = 62.38

29. Poland = 62.22 – - – - – - – - 30. Sri Lanka = 59.91

31. Hungary = 58.86 – - – - – - – 32. Estonia = 54.76

33. Ireland = 54.28 – - – - – - - 34. Switzerland = 53.95

35. Belarus = 51.46 – - – - – - – - 36. Uruguay = 51.23

37. Lithuania = 50.88 – - – - – - – 38. Malaysia = 50.52

39. Romania = 49.71 – - – - – - – 40. Czech Republic = 48.82

41. Russia = 48.65 – - – - – - – - – 42. Latvia = 45.41

43. Moldova = 44.89 – - – - – - – - 44. Colombia = 43.33

45. Slovenia = 42.76 – - – - – - – - – 46. Italy = 40.20

47. Portugal = 36.44 – - – - – - – - – 48. Tunisia = 33.15

49. Zambia = 26.64 – - – - – - – - – 50. Ukraine = 24.49

51. Slovakia = 23.75 – - – - – - – - – 52. Mauritius = 21.93

53. Turkey = 18.09 – - – - – - – - – - 54. Japan = 17.74

55. Hong Kong = 15.07 – - – - – - – - 56. India = 14.32

57. Qatar = 13.90 – - – - – - – - – 58. Macedonia = 13.20

59. Greece = 10.69 – - – - – - – - 60. Georgia = 10.05

61. Armenia = 9.39 – - – - – - – - 62. Indonesia = 5.67

63. Yemen = 3.86 – - – - – - – - – 64. Azerbaijan = 3.79

65. Saudi Arabia = 3.29