[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LL4zioRP92E]
Yesterday we all watched in surprise as Arbab Ghulam Rahim the ex chief minister of Sindh was physically assaulted and beaten by the goons of the current government on the floor of the Sindh Parliament. Not that he is some saint from whose hand milk and honey has flown to all corners of the province but a beating on the floor of democracy? Rome’s foundations are shaking my friends!!
Today however was an even bigger surprise as get this “Sher Afghan Niazi” a former minister in the Punjab government was spotted going into the Lahore bar to meet a friend. Soon lawyers started to gather outside the premises and totally surrounded it for 5 hours. Then when Aitzaz Ahsan Chief of the supreme court bar association came to his rescue and tried to get him into an ambulance, the angry mob of lawyers, plainclothesmen as well as other nefarious elements attacked him and beat him soundly. Now since this has happened Aitizaz Ahsan who i must add was instrumental in getting Mr Niazi out of the situation alive has resigned from the supreme court bar at his dismay at this act by his movement. Then in true Pakistani style he has “sort off” taken back his decision until tomorrow, in the betterment of the Lawyers movement off course!
As of now three theories are furiously doing the rounds of the media infotainment centers.
1) The Invisible Hand is behind all this!
This is a favorite of Pakistani spin masters. Whenever there is a situation which is more than a little awkward to explain (such as the so called protectors of law and democracy) “The Lawyers Movement” taking the law into their own hands and physically assaulting a former government member. We tend to go to this term as the be all and end all solution of all problems. Obviously this “Invisible Hand” has been blamed for everything from the Lal Masjid, to Zias plane going poof to this current state of anarchy. It might be the “good General” hatching yet another scheme to find an excuse to press the trigger of 52B to bring bout another emergency, or some other back door puppeteer at play.
2) Its the New Government
When Arbab was beaten yesterday there were clear shouts and chanting of the PPP slogan “Jeay Bhutto” leading many to believe that the current establishment is taking revenge on its past detractors, however nothing can be proven till the actual individuals involved in yesterday or todays event are brought to task. Anyone can call out any movements name and commit a crime, it has to be proved that he is indeed a member of the said organization. Still it couldn’t stop any of our media lumineries from pointing fingers at different parties. Who gives a shit about integrity, viewership is what counts! numbers baby numbers!!
3) Its India
This has been the mainstay of Pakistani policy excuses inside and outside Pakistan. Anything bad happens, blame the damn neighbour. They want to destabilize us, they want to take over. They are paying us back for what we did to them in Kashmir. They are behind the lawyers movement. How did the lawyers movemnt get so much money and logistic support? who is it that is pulling their strings. Aitezaz has always been a RAW agent right? he handed over lists of Sikhs to the Indian secret service yadda yadda yadda
We say all this, we hatch all kinds of theories and make all kinds of promises. I will retire, i resign but but wait.. i must hold my resignation, others will resign with me. This is the kind of shit which has gotten us here in the first place. When the hell are we going to see things for what they are??? I am not against democracy or people protesting with any cause they feel like. The “Lawyers Movement” which was unstoppable though has just stopped itself, nay its shot itself in the proverbial foot with this disaster of an attack!
So what next??? if Minsters with unending reaches in the corridors of power are beaten up like this, are we to stop going out of our houses? who will protect us? Who are we to trust? for very clearly we the people can see what the recently famous movement is comprised off? We can also see the level of governance we can expect from the old crop of new leaders. I wonder who it will be tomorrow? perhaps we should turn our national assembly and parliamentarian sessions into death cage wrestling matches. Perhaps then we can finally emerge with some sort of sanity and a weirdo or two to follow again.
Rome’s foundations are shaking my friends!!
I love the reference. This was a great read, for someone like me who lives overseas and is oblivious to the reality of Pakistani politics (news media is and always was biased and crap) this is a great source and outlet to plug into. I just finished reading this and moving on to the next ones. I seldom read Ardeshir Cowasjee’s columns in dawn and consider him an authority but still I have to say this was by far the best eye opener I have read in a very long time.
cheers!
A truly deplorable incident and i am sure such things can only be expected from terrorist organization MQM. MQM should be immediately banned and included in global terrorist organization. We all know about their activities and the way they collect ransom from the people of Karachi, who constantly live under the fear of this terrorist organization.
I also wonder from where Mr. Altaf Hussain gets his funds to finance his luxurious life in Karachi? Can he or anyone else from MQM inform us with the facts that how much he spend annually and how he earned it, keeping in mind the background from which he belongs. I strongly call on all the organizations and parties to exclude MQM from the coalition, as rightly mentioned by PML-N and labeled as terrorist organization, a rightful place for such a group.
What you sow, so shall you reap. And, I am not talking of what the two victims sowed but what we as a nation have been sowing.