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| Breaking promises will damage Zardari: Altaf |
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Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Musharraf’s decision to sack SC judges was taken without consulting MQM; fears Army intervention; Pakistan needs another French or Iranian revolution
By Shaheen Sehbai
LONDON: MQM supremo Altaf Hussain is a very disturbed man and minces no words in speaking out openly against the political ‘Tamasha’ going on in the Punjab and Islamabad, saying in so many words that he was not much interested in saving the political system because the very existence of the state was at stake and time was running out fast.
“I have been pleading with President Zardari and Mian Nawaz Sharif to start a dialogue and bring the temperature down but it appears that personalities of people change when they occupy seats of supreme power and no one then listens to any sane advice. I can only speak to them as I do not have a gun to force them,” he told me in a long talk during which he spoke mostly on the record but also gave some scathing comments about everyone off the record.
But during the long discussion, I got a very strong sense that while Altaf Bhai was repeatedly warning against the dangers to the country, he said several times that “we will not be affected” probably meaning that Karachi will still be a MQM-controlled city. “Hamain to faraq nahin parta”, was his refrain more than once, yet he was sincerely of the view that Pakistan was facing serious threats and the current political infighting was totally unnecessary and irrelevant to the challenges that lurked not so far away in time.
“The superpowers can achieve what they want and pretty easily,” Altaf Hussain said in another context. He was very interested in the recent Nato briefings that seniors editors and media men recently got for several days in Brussels and when told that Nato and the Western countries were not just thinking the present geographicstate of Pakistan but even beyond that, Altaf Bhai was quick to grab the argument to say this was exactly what his analysis was.
The MQM chief is also very worried about the long march and its consequences for the country and he repeatedly said politicians did not learn lessons as the current jockeying for power was not in the country’s interest.
He almost said during our conversation that the Army could return to power as a result of the present confrontation. “I can see that this will ultimately be the only result,” he thoughtfully said, speaking very slowly and contemplating and focusing his thoughts.
“These politicians belong to the rich, feudal and elite class and they cannot change their ways. This is out of question,” Altaf Hussain said, repeating at one point that “this country is also getting out of question”, meaning it may not survive this wrangling. But when asked if the country broke up where and how will these rich classes survive, he said: “They will survive because they have made their alternate arrangements. The 98 per cent of the poor people will be destroyed.”
He recalled his party’s efforts to set foot in the Punjab and the rest of the country and said they had spent millions of rupees to get a foothold in the Punjab but did not succeed but they were trying and would keep on trying. “Ours is a party which can bring the change and people of Pakistan had to realise that they need a party which does not protect the rich classes only.”
Altaf Bhai narrated an interesting story about Karachi Nazim Mustafa Kamal who, he said, had been picked purely on merit because when he came to him, he had no lobby or no ‘Sifarish’ from anyone.
He even did not have the money. “When I picked him up as the mayor of Karachi, I took him to a London designer suit shop and bought him some decent suits and shirts as he could not afford them,” the MQM supremo recalled. “I have told the mayor to come to me for every request, whenever he needs anything. And so he does, even when his mother is sick or there is any other family problem.”
About Gen Musharraf, the MQM leader was very bitter because he said the MQM supported him out of the way but when he took the decision of removing the Supreme Court chief justice and the judiciary, he did not consult the party even once. “If he had done so, things would not have been the same.”
He even saw some conspiracy in the high media projection of Gen Musharraf and said he was surprised that the media was treating him still like a head of state. “They even preferred the Musharraf news conference on Monday to the public meeting of Nawaz Sharif in Jhelum,” he remarked.
Speaking in philosophical terms, Altaf Hussain said he would never ever take any office, as he had not done so until now. “Even if the MQM forms governments in the entire country, I will never accept any office. I believe in hard work, honesty and commitment, which can be done without an office.”
But then he went on to state that Pakistan now needed a French Revolution to correct the situation. “If people who think like me come to power, they should clean up the corrupt — both in the military and the civil feudal structures. Only this is the solution.”
He totally agreed when I mentioned Imam Khomeini, the leader of the Iranian revolution. “We do need a Khomeini,” he said. Coming back to Pakistani politics, he again asked Nawaz Sharif and President Zardari to sit down for a dialogue and find a solution, which is better for the country. “Otherwise, the consequences will be too disastrous.”
He said the steps taken by President Zardari, specially going back on his written agreements and promises, may have helped him in the short run but were very damaging for his image and long-term politics.
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Three killed as Sh Rashid escapes attempt on life
By Shakeel Anjum
RAWALPINDI: Awami Muslim League (AML) Chief and a candidate for NA-55 (Rawalpindi) by-election Sheikh Rashid Ahmad was wounded, while three people — a guard and two party workers — were killed when four gunmen more |
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12 soldiers killed in South Waziristan
ISLAMABAD: Twelve soldiers embraced martyrdom while two others were injured in a clash with militants during the ongoing operation Rah-e-Nijat in South Waziristan Agency (SWA), the ISPR said on Monday.
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Plan to attack five-star hotel foiled
By our correspondent
LAHORE: The CIA police here on Monday claimed to have foiled an attack on Americans staying at a five-star hotel and arrested six terrorists, including a suicide bomber.
Addressing a press conference, SS more |
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Govt taking court for a ride
By Ansar Abbasi
ISLAMABAD: She fought her case in the media. She won her battle in the judicial forum too. But still the government is bent on making an example out of her for refusing to follow the illegal dictates of her min more |
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Pakistan against arms race: Gilani
By Azeem Samar
KARACHI: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Monday said Pakistan does not want to be engaged in an arms race with any country.
Speaking as chief guest at the induction ceremony of second Chinese-m more |
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Punjab-Sindh water row Centre’s intervention sought
By our correspondent
ISLAMABAD: Tension between Punjab and Sindh over opening of the Chashma-Jhelum and Taunsa-Punjnad link canals has touched a new high as the former has sought the Centre’s intervention.
The Punjab has sai more |
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French, Dutch fight over giving LNG to Pakistan
By Khalid Mustafa
ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin and his team is all set to thwart the attempt of an unscrupulous combine of oil industry heavyweights and some functionaries of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Re more |
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Nine killed as no let-up in rains
By Nisar Mahmood
PESHAWAR: Nine people were killed and scores of others injured as heavy rains and snowfall lashed various parts of the country for the fourth consecutive day on Monday.
Reports from the Shangla district more |
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Malik orders NUML closure as protest enters 5ht day
ISLAMABAD: The protest of the students of the National University of Modern Languages (NUML) against thrashing of Professor Malik Tahir by Registrar Brigadier (R) Obaidullah Ranjha entered its fifth consecutive more |
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Malik insists no Blackwater in Pakistan
By Muhammad Anis
ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rehman Malik while responding to an accusation from a PML-N parliamentarian told the National Assembly that Blackwater was not providing security to the president and the prime mini more |
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FBR gets list of properties rented out to foreigners
By Hanif Khalid
ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has received list of properties from Foreign Office, which were in use of foreigners in Islamabad, Karachi, Peshawar and Lahore, but these were not shown in annual tax more |
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Repealing of 17th Amendment
By our correspondent
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has begun efforts to create consensus on repealing the 17th Amendment before presidential address to the joint sitting of the parliament.
The prime minis more |
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Three suspects held in Mohmand
By our correspondent
GHALLANAI: The security forces arrested three suspected persons during search operation in Safi subdivision of Mohmand Agency, official sources said Monday. The sources said the security forces carried out sear more |
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No presence of Blackwater, DynCorp in Pakistan, NA body told
ISLAMABAD: Secretary Interior Qamar Zaman again negated on Monday the presence of Blackwater, DynCorp or any other foreign security agency in the country. “Neither the Blackwater and the DynCorp nor any other s more |
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Govt urged to take up water issue with India
By Asim Yasin
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Q, Parliamentary leader in the National Assembly, Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat while urging the government to take up the issue of ‘water terrorism’ with New Delhi, has question more |
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Avalanche kills 17 Indian soldiers in held Kashmir
HELD SRINAGAR: Seventeen Indian soldiers were killed on Monday in an avalanche that slammed into a group of 70 combat troops at a high-altitude warfare training camp in Kashmir, the army said on Monday.
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Taliban defiant as Afghans flee ahead of assault
KANDAHAR: The Nato commanders urged the Taliban to surrender as troops dug in on Monday for a major assault on their key stronghold in southern Afghanistan, sending thousands of residents fleeing.
The Ta more |
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Plea to freeze foreign accounts
By our correspondent
LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday ordered the federal government to submit a reply within four weeks on a petition seeking freezing of accounts in foreign banks and recovery of illegal assets accumu more |
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Attack on Sh Rashid
RAWALPINDI: The PML-N candidate for by-polls from NA-55, Malik Shakil Awan, has announced suspension of electioneering for a day to mourn the death of those killed in the attack on the office of his rival, Shei more |
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Indian forces to halt Kashmir rally outside UN office
HELD SRINAGAR: The held Kashmir authorities deployed thousands of police and troops on Monday to prevent a protest outside the UN office here over the recent killing of two teenage boys by Indian security force more |
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briefs...
20 die in Afghan floods, avalanches
KANDAHAR: Twenty people have died in floods and avalanches triggered by some of the heaviest rain and snow in Afghanistan for 50 years, an official said on Monday. At more |
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ISSN 1563-9479 
