September 2005
Mohtarma Bhutto
condoles death of Akbar Umrani
Islamabad September 26, 2005: Former
Prime Minister and Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party Mohtarma
Benazir Bhutto has condoled the death of Akbar Umrani a PPP activist in
Dubai who was killed in Karachi on Saturday by unknown assailants.
In a condolence message the former Prime Minister paid rich tributes to
Akbar Umrani and said that in his death the Party has lost a dedicated and
committed worker who never shirked from giving sacrifices for the cause of
democracy and the Party.
A die-hard Party activist Akbar Umarni has also been President of Peoples’
Students Federation Baluchistan. Presently he was living and working in
Dubai. He is also a cousin of former PPP Balcuhistan President and member of
the Central Executive Committee Sadiq Umrani.
Mohtarma Bhutto said that she was deeply anguished over the death of Akbar
Umrani. "His services will be long remembered".
She said that the cold blooded murder of Akbar Umrani in Karachi in broad
day light showed how the law and order situation was worsening every day but
the rulers were oblivious of it. She demanded immediate arrest of Akbar
Umrani’s killers and punishment to them in accordance with the law.
Mohtarma Bhutto prayed for the departed soul to rest in eternal peace and
also for the courage to the members of bereaved family to bear the loss with
fortitude.
CEC and Judiciary urged to stop rigging in the elections
Islamabad, 26 September 2005: A
consensus candidate for Tehsil Nazim in Lahore, Dr. Zahid Akram has appealed
to the Chief Election Commissioner and the judiciary to intervene for
stopping rigging in the third phase of local bodies elections in Lahore.
In a statement Dr. Zahid Akram said that the proposers and seconders of five
of his covering candidates have been kidnapped in an effort to rig the
elections. He said that the government party is intimidating his voters and
supporters to get it’s nominee elected unopposed and several of his
supporters and voters have been kidnapped by the goons of the government
candidate. He accused the government party candidate of using state
machinery for his election campaign.
He called upon the Election Commission and the judiciary to fulfil its
constitutional role and not let the election become another useless exercise
like the first and the second phase of the local bodies elections.
Daily Express (Urdu)
Monday, September 26, 2005: “LAHORE:
Remy Butz, an eminent jurist who gave third party judgment in Swiss case,
has said that there was no truth in the Swiss case filed against MBB. This
case was initiated on political bases and any conviction in this case is out
of question. S/He said that non one was convicted in any money laundering
case in the Swiss history. MBB’s case cannot crawl forward from
investigation. He said conviction is a distant dream but this case cannot be
found fit even for a judicial trial.
In a exclusive interview with Daily Express (Karachi), at Lahore residence
of Matloob Warraich, Remy said whatever Daniel Davoud had stated in his
report stands nullified, who had given his report some five to six days
before his leaving the office. I see no plus point for the government of
Pakistan in this case. The documents submitted in the case show the
signatures of SAZ when he was in jail. How is it possible that a person who
is in jail comes to Switzerland to sign deal with any company. According to
Swiss laws, obtaining kickbacks and commission is no crime. There are only
some sectors where kickbacks are not obtained. However, there is no crime of
getting commission in the case initiated against MBB, if ever obtained.
S/He said that this case is in the process of investigation on the complaint
of government of Pakistan and had there been any serious nature of case it
could have been decided in two years. This case has taken seven years in
investigations and as per Swiss laws, this case stand disposed off
automatically after ten years.
S/He said that anybody can keep an account in Switzerland though an account
can be opened in Switzerland even without money. S/He doesn’t know that
whether government of Pakistan has exerted any pressure of any nature on
Swiss government. S/He said case has five important points. How can a case
be tried at two places. Swiss authorities were kept blind of the fact that
trial of this case has already been held in Pakistan. Swiss Investigation
Magistrate gave decision on his last day in service and fact is that no
account of MBB has been located. And when investigation failed to locate any
account of MBB how the Swisss investigation authority can issue an order.”
Taj Haider questions non-Pakistani representing Pakistan in car race
Demand inquiry into doling out of state patronage at cost of national honour
Islamabad September 27, 2005: Mr. Taj
Haider, Central Information Secretary of Pakistan Peoples Party has taken
serious note of the press reports that some Anglo Mongol Adam Langley was
made to represent Pakistan in A 1 motor car races instead of Pakistani race
car driver Nur Ali who had been nominated at the highest level to represent
Pakistan.
In a statement today he said that it was very disturbing to note how easily
government patronage was doled out to some even at the cost of national
honour and prestige.
The foreigner driver who illegally flew the national flag in the race held
yesterday not only finished last but was accused by commentators doing live
coverage on television and later by other competing drivers from other
countries of breaking rules and causing serious safety risks on the race
track. Thank God no serious accident took place because of him. If the
reports appearing in most credible newspapers are correct than all this has
been done to defame the country and the nation by a handful pf person
enjoying government patronage, he said.
Mr. Taj Haider said that very serious questions emerged from the whole
episode. How the A-1 franchise was obtained and are the local people having
this franchise really qualified to have such a prestigious franchise? Why
was the experienced Pakistani driver Nur Ali made to sit home and a
foreigner inexperienced driver given the opportunity to fly the national
flag? How did this foreign driver obtain a National Identity Card/ Passport?
What did the Federal Ministry of Sports and Culture do to ensure that
Pakistan was not made a laughing stock at the international level?
Mr. Taj Haider demanded that a thorough inquiry should be conducted in the
matter and such unscrupulous elements who were playing with our honour and
prestige should be exposed and brought to book.
PPP asks CEC to intervene in LB polls in Multan
Islamabad September 27, 2005: Senator
Mian Raza Rabbani, the Opposition Leader in the Senate has urged the Chief
Election Commissioner to urgently take serious note of the allegations of
rigging and manipulation by the King’s Party on the eve of the third phase
of local bodies’ polls.
In a statement today he said that a large number of complaints have been
filed by the awam dost candidates in the LB elections with the election
commission. He said that now this is the responsibility of the election
commission to fulfil its responsibility and to take notice of the same.
He reminded the Election Commission that the awam dost candidate for Town
Nazim Multan Makhdoom Mureed Hussain Qureshi was being harassed by the
King’s Party and urged the CEC to take note of his complaint already lodged
with him.
He said that Makhdoom Mureed had in his application to the CEC already given
details of how his opponent after being nominated by the Chief Minister
Punjab was now using state machinery to rig the polls in his favour.
He said that Makhdoom Mureed has informed the CEC that the govt agencies,
and also the MNA’s and MPA’s of the ruling party are openly canvassing for
Rai Arif Mansab, saying that the decision of the Chief Minister has to
implemented at all costs. The police department and others are pressurizing
the voters by threats and are using strong-arm tactics and registering false
cases. Voters were being kidnapped and the whole election exercise had been
rendered a farce.
Senator Raza Rabbani has called upon the Election Commission to fulfil its
constitutional role and not let the nazims’ elections become another
farcical exercise as happened in the first and second phases of LB polls.
Mohtarma Benazir
Bhutto Welcomes ICG Report on How to End Instability in Pakistan Through
Democratic Reform
Islamabad, 29 September 2005:
Former Prime Minister and Chairperson Pakistan Peoples Party, Mohtarma
Benazir Bhutto, on behalf of the party has welcomed the report of the
International Crisis Group released this week.
The well-respected body has analysed the political situation in the country
noting that the military regime has refused to "cede real power to civilians
" which has led to worsening instability.
The report notes that the " mainstream parties struggle to survive,
subjected to coercion and violence". The report states that General
Musharraf has created PML(Q) and "brought it to power through rigged
elections".
Commenting on the local elections, the ICG said, "the moderate parties again
bore the brunt of state coercion, particularly the PPP and PML-N".
In addition to making recommendations to the political parties for reform,
the ICG made recommendations to the regime. These recommendations included
asking the Musharraf regime to first do away with the discriminatory
requirement for an electoral candidate to hold a bachelor's degree, second
amend the political parties act allowing parties to run their affairs as per
their requirements, third to consult the Opposition on an independent
election commission, fourth to refine party finance laws making it possible
for corporate contributions to political parties as well as allowing state
funding to them, fifth to remove the two term limit for election to Prime
Minister and remove the ban on student unions.
The ICG called upon the International Community, in particular the United
States and the European Union to
(1) Press the Musharraf regime to resume the democratic transition by
holding free and fair local, provincial and national elections and tie
political, economic and aid policy towards Pakistan to tangible progress
along that democratic path.
(2) Help strengthen moderate democratic parties by:
(a) Calling upon the government to stop immediately all unlawful arrests,
detentions and other harassment of opposition leaders and workers;
(b) Ensuring that high-level visitors consult with leaders of the main
opposition parties; and
(c) Enhancing financial support and capacity building activities to include
technical assistance and training in professional management techniques for
party headquarters and documentation of party finances.
PPP vows to
struggle for rights of labor
Raza Rabbani recalls blocking anti labour legislation in Senate
Islamabad September 24, 2005:
Mian Raza Rabbani, Deputy Secretary General, PPP and Leader of the
Opposition in the Senate of Pakistan has issued the following press
statement:
"The PPP is a Party of the working class and it has always struggled for the
protection of their rights and against unfair labour practices. The Party
has been in the vanguard of the struggle for their economic emancipation.
"In the Senate yesterday the Party was able to prevent the passing of an
anti labour legislation. The Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan
Bill, 2005 in section 11 contained the provision that the Pakistan Essential
Services (Maintenance) Act, 1952 will be applicable. This would have meant
that there would be no trade union activity and the rights of the workers
would be at the mercy of the management. An amendment was moved by me on
behalf of the Party for its deletion, after an agreement with the Treasury
benches the amendment was accepted.
"It will be recalled that it was Ms Bhutto’s Government that reinstated all
the employees that had been dismissed under various Martial Regulations in
the past and the Party assures the working class that all those people who
have been laid off without the due process of the law in the present tenure
of the Government will be reinstated.
"The importance that the Party attaches to the working class can be judged
by the fact that the candidate of the Party for the slot of the Naib Nazim
in the city of Karachi is a trade union leader, this shows the integration
of the Party with the trade union movement.
"The Party under the leadership of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto is committed to
the cause of the working class".
PPP Women Wing
Islamabad holds demonstration against General Musharraf
Islamabad, 22 September 2005: The
Women’s Wing Pakistan Peoples Party Islamabad held a protest demonstration
in front of Parliament House today against General Musharraf’s statement
humiliating Pakistani women in Washington during his US visit.
The demonstration was led by Nargis Faiz Malik, President Women Wing PPP
Islamabad and attended by dozens of women. The Chairperson Pakistan Peoples
Party, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto has asked General Musharraf to tender apology
to Pakistani people especially the women of Pakistan. Nargis Faiz Malik
addressing the protestors said that General Musharraf has exposed his true
face of a dictator by expressing such shameful remarks about Pakistani
women. She said that General Musharraf is a male Chauvinist who is
victimising Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and trying to oust her from politics.
She said that women of Pakistan are well able to protect their respect and
would not allow any dictator to disrespect them.
She said that the incidents of rape and other excesses against women have
increased since General Musharraf has illegally and unconstitutionally taken
over the country. He has encouraged the rapists by providing protection to
the rapist of Dr. Shazia Khalid. Nargis Faiz Malik warned General Musharraf
and his regime to restrain themselves from committing excesses against women
and demanded him to tender his apology to Pakistani nation immediately.
Mohtarma Bhutto welcomes Commonwealth’s concern over slow democratisation in
Pakistan
Islamabad September 22, 2005: Former
Prime Minister and Chairperson Pakistan Peoples Party Mohtarma Benazir
Bhutto has welcomed the proceedings of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action
committee which discussed Pakistan's slow progress to democracy as well as
the uniform issue during its session in New York on 17 September 2005.
In the meeting, the Commonwealth Ministerial Group reviewed developments in
Pakistan since its last meeting in London in February 2005. It received an
update from the Secretary-General on the local bodies' elections which were
observed by a Commonwealth Expert Team (CET) in August 2005.
The Group expressed concern on the slow progress in the democratisation
process. It stressed that there were areas where improvements still needed
to be made to the electoral process and the political environment in
Pakistan. CMAG endorsed the recommendations of the CET for strengthening the
independence of the Election Commission and empowering it to use its
executive powers to enforce its decisions and the code of conduct for
elections.
In a statement today the PPP Chairperson said that she hoped that with the
Group's recommendation to the Secretary-General to intensify ongoing high
level contact with Pakistan, the Commonwealth would be able to play a more
substantive role in helping the people of its member state obtain their
democratic rights.
She noted that following the local elections which were rigged at all
levels, there were sections in Pakistan that were becoming disillusioned
with the possibility of Islamabad ever holding a fair election. Such
disillusionment was leading them to consider approaching other international
organisations to hold elections.
It may be noted that although PPP has not yet decided to approach the United
Nations or the Commonwealth to conduct Pakistani elections, the United
Nations has been conducting elections in certain parts of the world.
During its meeting, CMAG reaffirmed that the holding by the same person of
the offices of the Head of State and Chief of Army Staff is incompatible
with the basic principles of democracy and the spirit of the Harare
Commonwealth principles, as well as CMAG's expectations. It also restated
its strong view that until the two offices are no longer combined in the
same person, the process of democratisation in Pakistan will not be
irreversible. The Group again urged President Musharraf to relinquish one of
his two offices, certainly no later than the end of the current Presidential
term in 2007.
CMAG called on the Government of Pakistan to continue and intensify progress
in fostering a sustainable and inclusive political culture, improving
democratic governance, strengthening political and oversight institutions,
supporting local governments, protecting human rights, respecting media
freedoms and improving the position of women and minorities. It also called
for the further widening of the democratic space so that all who wish can
participate in the electoral process.
CMAG decided to keep Pakistan on its Agenda.
The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group on the Harare Declaration
(CMAG) was chaired by the Hon Olu Adeniji, Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Nigeria, and was attended by Hon Tuila'epa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi, Prime
Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Samoa, Hon Frederick A
Mitchell, Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Public Service of The Bahamas
(Vice-Chairman), Hon Pierre Pettigrew, Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Canada, Hon K. Natwar Singh, Minister of External Affairs of India, Hon
Michael Frendo, Minster of Foreign Affairs of Malta, Hon Anura Bandaranaike,
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Tourism of Sri Lanka and Hon Dr Abdul-Kader
Shareef, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation
of the United Republic of Tanzania
PPP rebuts official spokesman's statement
Islamabad September 22, 2005: Reacting to the official
spokesman's statement on the proceedings before the Investigation Magistrate
in Geneva on Monday in the SGS case spokesman of the Party Senator
Farhatullah Babar has said that the regime was trying to confuse the people
by giving a spin to the proceedings before the Magistrate.
In a statement today the spokesman said that the core of Mohtarma Bhutto's
deposition before the Investigation Magistrate was that she rejected the
military regime's allegations that the companies or accounts of those
companies belonged to her. She also dismissed the allegation that she had
purchased the jewellery.
The spokesman said that Mohtarma Bhutto stated before the Investigation
Magistrate that the pre-shipment inspection contract was awarded in a
transparent manner. The contract stood on its own merit as was evident from
the report of the auditors demonstrating the financial gains for Pakistan
and its people, she had said.
"This is Mohtarma Bhutto's position, one she took unwaveringly since 1997
and the regime has not been able to produce any evidence to the contrary".
He asked the regime should address these issues raised by Mohtarma instead
of confusing the people by giving a one sided version of what transpired
before the Investigation Magistrate in Geneva.
The spokesman said that it was a farce to claim that the trial court in
Pakistan had convicted her. As the tape transcripts proved, the sentencing
order had been written by the regime itself for the Judge to sign. The
Supreme Court overturned the sentence on appeal due to the 'bias of the
trial judge'. This resulted in the resignation of two judges from the Bench.
The Supreme Court's ruling as well as tapes of conversation between the
trial judge, Minister of Law, Chief Justice Lahore High Court and the NAB
prosecutors proved beyond doubt a conspiracy to murder justice with the
victim as Islam's first elected Chief Executive Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto.
"The regime suffered a major set back in its attempts to perjure justice
further with the statement of Mohtarma. To cover up the essence of
Mohtarma's statement that neither the accounts nor the companies were hers,
the regime was trying to confuse public opinion but it would not succeed".
He said that unsubstantiated allegations, followed by inquiries,
regurgitating allegations followed by orchestrated media trials is the stuff
by which the military junta seeks to tie down the popular leaders on the one
hand and divert public attention from the real economic and social issues on
the other.
It is the fate of the junta to twist in frustration as the Commonwealth
focuses once again on the importance of democracy and the General gets a
beating for his outrageous remarks concerning raped women, he said, noting
that the General was once again trying to fool people with false
allegations.
PPP meeting in Islamabad
Condemns rigging in polls, vows not to yield to dictatorship
Islamabad September 23, 2005: A Party meeting of the PPP in
Islamabad today condemned the massive rigging and manipulation by the regime
in the local bodies’ polls and vowed not to yield to fascist and
dictatorship under any circumstances.
The meeting held at the Party’s secretariat in Islamabad under direction of
the Party Chairperson Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto was presided over by the
General Secretary Jehangir Bader and attended by the provincial PPP
presidents and Senators and MNAs of the Party.
Those who attended the meeting included Senators Raza Rabbani, Safdar Abbasi
and Farhatullah Babar and MNAs Raja Pervez Ashraf, Naveed Qamar, Shah
Mahmood Qureshi, Yousuf Talpur, Naheed Khan and Shery Rehman. Provincial
party presidents of Punjab, Sindh, Frontier and Baluchistan were also
present in the meeting and gave reviews of the local bodies’ polls in their
provinces.
Condemning the rigging the meeting expressed the view that the regime had
resorted to massive fraud to make the people disillusioned with democracy
and elections. It said that manipulated power transfer at the grass root
level was fraught with dangers to the federation, undermined social cohesion
and bode ill for the future of democracy in the country.
The meeting took stock of the situation as to how rigging was done through
splitting up of districts, illegal transfers of officials despite ban,
forcing candidates to change political loyalties, disqualifying candidates
just a few days before polling, violation of election code, snatching of
ballot boxes, pre stuffed ballot boxes, kidnapping of candidates by armed
goons and misuse of state funds. It also welcomed the European Union report
that said that the local elections were marred by rigging and said that the
report was a slap on the face of the regime.
The meeting deplored that the Election Commission was rendered ineffective
by the regime and not allowed to perform its constitutional duties and there
was no hope of fair, free and democratic elections unless the EC was
thoroughly reformed and reorganised and the Human Rights Commission of
Pakistan was given a role in the conduct of elections. The meeting also
saluted the courage of the workers who fought elections despite heavy odds.
The meeting reposed complete confidence in the leadership of Mohtarma Bhutto
and resolved to fight dictatorship and not yield to fascism and tyranny.
Mohtarma Bhutto welcomes European Union report about flaws in local
elections
Islamabad September 23, 2005:
Former Prime Minister and Chairperson Pakistan Peoples Party Mohtarma
Benazir Bhutto has welcomed the European Union report which highlighted the
flaws in the local elections along with numerous complaints of pre-poll
rigging from the opposition parties.
In a statement today the former Prime Minister said that the people of
Pakistan were disempowered and their social and economic issues neglected.
Empowerment of the people of Pakistan, through fair and free elections, was
essential to the progress of the women, children and people of Pakistan, she
said.
The EU report said that its observers received numerous reports of pre-poll
rigging from the opposition parties prior to the elections.
These included the unfair splitting up of districts and delimitation of
tehsil, and union council constituencies, unauthorised transfer of local
government officers, and pressure on candidates to change political
allegiance.
The opposition parties, in their pre-poll rigging reports forwarded to EU
observers, also complained about the disqualification of candidates only a
few days before polling, institutionalised kidnapping of candidates, misuse
of state funds, including the active participation by the head of state in a
party’s campaign etc.
The EU observers reported serious problems on the days of elections such as
presiding officers disallowing genuine ID cards, blatant breaches of
election code by candidates and politicians, ballots box rigging including
party officials removing real boxes and replacing them with pre-filled boxes
and different methods of multiplying voting.
The report also took note of the local elections which were the most violent
in the history of the country. According to EU observers, there was some
serious violence, around 240 people were injured and an estimated 40-50
deaths despite the heavy deployment of law enforcement agencies countrywide.
PPP Lambasts regime for
victimising Begum Nusrat Bhutto
Deplores remarks of accountability judge as endorsing the prosecution
Islamabad September 25, 2005:
Pakistan Peoples Party has strongly condemned the re-opening of a dead
reference against the former first lady Begum Nusrat Bhutto and termed it as
political vendetta of the worst kind.
An Accountability Court judge in Lahore on Friday reopened an accountability
case against the widow of the country’s first directly elected Prime
Minister that has remained dormant for nearly five years.
In reopening the case the Judge asked the NAB as to what steps it has taken
for the arrest of Begum Nusrat Bhutto and also passed remarks that amounted
to endorsing the NAB allegations against Begum Nusrat Bhutto of owning
assets worth 1.5 billion dollars in foreign countries.
The re-opening of a dead and dormant case against a person who is too sick
to defend herself is a worst example of abuse of judicial processes to
victimise political opponents, said the vice Chair of PPP and leader of the
Parliamentary Party in the National Assembly in a statement today.
"It only demonstrates the viciousness and vendetta of rulers", he said
adding that it was intended only to torture the Bhutto family and pave way
for eliminating the genuine representatives of the people to perpetuate
dictatorship.
He said that he was astonished over the remarks of the Accountability Judge
that amounted to endorsing the prosecution story and said that it only
showed how the hand picked accountability judges played to the tune of the
NAB and rulers. He urged the judiciary, the lawyers and the human rights
bodies to take note of the remarks of the accountability judge that amounted
to pre-judging the accused.
Makhdoom Amin Fahim said that Begum Nusrat Bhutto was too sick to stand
trial and under the law could not be tried as she was not in a position to
defend herself..
The PPP leader also warned the mandarins of NAB to keep in mind the fate of
the previous czars of accountability and also the rulers.
Is this the way the family of the nation's great hero who gave this country
the nuclear capability, brought back the prisoners of war, sought to erase
the shame of surrender in Dacca and gave the country self respect and
esteem, Makhdoom Amin Fahim asked
The PPP leader said that this immoral drama was being enacted only to
torment the former Prime Minister Mohtrama Benazir Bhutto. He said that the
military regime was bent upon discrediting and destroying genuine
representatives of the people through a sham accountability process. The
accountability under NAB and Musharraf is selective and designed exclusively
to advance the political agenda of the regime, he said.
PPP asks CEC
to intervene in LB polls in Multan
Islamabad September 25, 2009:
Raja Pervez Ashraf MNA and Deputy Parliamentary
Leader of the Party in the National Assembly has urged the Chief Election
Commissioner to urgently take serious note of the allegations of rigging and
manipulation resorted to by the King’s Party on the eve of the third phase
of local bodies’ polls.
In a statement today he said that a large number of awam dost candidates for
the third phase had made formal complaints to the Election Commission and
that it was now the responsibility of the EC to address those complaints.
He reminded the Election Commission that the awam dost candidate for Town
Nazim Multan Makhdoom Mureed Hussain Qureshi was being harassed by the
King’s Party and urged the CEC to take note of his complaint already lodged
with him.
He said that Makhdoom Mureed had in his application to the CEC already given
details of how his opponent after being nominated by the Chief Minister
Punjab was now using state machinery to rig the polls in his favour.
He said that Makhdoom Mureed has informed the CEC that the govt agencies,
and also the MNA’s and MPA’s of the ruling party are openly canvassing for
Rai Arif Mansab, saying that the decision of the Chief Minister has to
implemented at all costs. The police department and others are pressurizing
the voters by threats and are using strong-arm tactics and registering false
cases. Voters were being kidnapped and the whole election exercise had been
rendered a farce.
Raja Pervez Asahraf called upon the Election Commission to fulfil its
constitutional role and not let the nazims’ elections become another
farcical exercise as happened in the first and second phases of LB polls.
PPP USA holds
demonstration against General Musharraf
Islamabad, 19 September 2005: Pakistan
People Party USA held a huge protest demonstration in New York against
Pakistani military dictator General Musharraf on Saturday, the 17th
September.
The demonstration was attended by all the office bearers of the party and
members of Asian American Network. The demonstrators held Pakistani and
Party flags, placards and Banners demanding General Musharraf to leave
presidency, restoration of democracy, withdrawal of all false cases against
Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, Senator Asif Ali Zardari and other PPP leaders.
The PPP, USA passed several resolutions demanding General Musharraf’s
resignation, end of military intervention in country’s politics, withdrawal
of false and concocted cases against PPP leadership, and the military to
return to barracks.
A large number of PPP workers attended the protest against General
Musharraf, organized by ANAA, a women group against violence on women. The
demonstration was held in front of Roosevelt Hotel, where General Musharraf
stayed during his US visit.
The Islamic
Heritage
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
The Islamic Heritage: How am I to unfold this opulent heritage of ours;
where can I begin? Where should I find the common meeting ground, the point
of assimilation of our civilization with yours? Some say it lies in the
conflict of the Crusades, others say it is to be found in the bloody
conquest of Constantinople, yet others hold it to be the Moorish occupation
of Spain, and still others maintain that the true blending of the West and
the Islamic East came when Sir Thomas Roe set foot on Emperor Jehangir's
Hindustan. To lift the curtain from any point would entail the omission of
some handsome part of the Islamic civilization. It would mean the omission
of the immortal Omar, the dauntless Khalid, the wise Akbar, the brave Tariq
and a host of other outstanding celebrities, including Ali, Abu Bakr and
Amar. How can I dare to call this talk "The Islamic Heritage" if such names
are omitted? How can I have the effrontery to start from as late as the
Crusades merely because the Western role in our lives is arbitrarily said to
have started from that period? At the same time, it may seem out of place to
reveal those aspects of Islamic history with which you do not share a common
denominator. Nevertheless, I shall try to integrate all the important events
and contributions of Islam in a manner that will interest you.
Throughout this talk, I shall refer to the accomplishments of Islam as my
own accomplishments, for I genuinely consider any accomplishment of the
Islamic people as a personal feat, just as I consider any failure of the
Muslim World as a personal failure. There is something binding about the
Muslim World in spite of the fact that it is torn by dissension. This may
seem strange to you, but it is true. This unique attachment is partly
because of a common religion which from the outset emphasized the strong
ties of one Muslim to another as an essential part of the religion. This
thought is cherished by the common association of the Muslim people in a
geographical link that stretches from Europe to about the farthest corner of
Asia.
I am not here to preach Islam to you or to threaten you with its dormant
powers: I only want to tell you of the Islam that was a burning light of
yesterday, the ember that it is today, and the celestial flame of tomorrow,
for that is how I envisage the future of Islam. I must also tell you that
religiously speaking, I am not a devout Muslim. I do not say my prayers
regularly, I do not keep all the fasts. I have not yet been on a pilgrimage
to Mecca. Therefore, religiously speaking, I am a poor Muslim. However, my
interest is soaked in the political, economic and cultural heritage of
Islam. I will not discuss the religious implications of the faith, but its
political and cultural developments. Before plunging into this task, I feel
it essential to briefly give you a background of the essentials of Islam,
the birth of the religion.
Arabia of the 6th century was surrounded by countries that had adorned world
civilization. On one hand was Alexandria in Egypt, Damascus in Syria,
Antioch in Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, ancient Babylon, Baghdad in Iraq, the
pageantry of India, and still farther East, the splendid civilization of
China. On the other side of Arabia was the grandeur of Greece and the
splendour of Rome and the majesty of the Byzantine Empire. Arabia was a
little known and undisturbed expanse of sand in this array of jewels
encircling it; even the reflections of these civilizations gave no light to
the barbaric nomads of the desert. Not only was the country barren, but also
the minds of its people. They were a people diseased with degrading moral
codes. These people buried their daughters alive, considering the birth of
one a disgrace; and a man among them could have a woman by merely throwing
his cloak over her. Mecca was their centre of worship, with three hundred
and fifty idols as their holy shrines.
But soon, these lizard-eating and moribund people of the desert were to be
aroused by a vigorous. force, a venerable and potent force that was to
transform their lives. The founder of this dynamic force, whose religion was
to embrace all the three known continents with lightning speed, was
Mohammad, his religion was Islam, which means submission to God.
His fundamental tenets were:
a) The indivisibility of God
b) The simplicity of belief
c) The brotherhood of man
He did not claim supernatural power or relationship with any deity but said
he was a humble messenger of the one and only Creator of the World. He was a
rebel and a destroyer of all that was evil and decadent. Mohammad was at
times forced to use the sword, not to defend himself, but to protect the
infant religion of Islam. If the Arabs of his day had planned only to kill
him, he would have given his life without hesitation, but the blood-thirsty,
lawless nomads of the desert sought to destroy Islam and not Mohammad. These
Arabs were brutal and fierce but it was Mohammad who cultivated these people
and stimulated them with moral and intellectual curiosity, refined their
laws, prohibited gambling and drinking, gave protection to women, raised
them from the lowest conditions to the most distinguished place in
civilization. He inculcated in them a sprit of brotherhood and loyalty, fed
them with virtuous ideals, and established for them a meaningful code of
existence. Without any nebulous symbolism, without any ostentatious
exploitation of altars. Mohammad enshrined on immortal message in the hearts
of not only his Arabs, but of the entire mankind.
"Ye people! Hearken to my speech and comprehend the same. Know that every
Muslim is the brother of every other Muslim. All of you are of the same
equality," said he to his people again and again until the believing Negro
became the equal of the Khalifa of Islam. Europeans, conscious of the racial
complexion of civilization, may know that from the first day racial
differences were stamped out in Islam. Through a free intermingling of
Muslims, the dominance of one particular race over another was abolished. It
may be worthwhile to substantiate these remarks by pointing out that when
the Aryans invaded India centuries ago, they immediately segregated the
people of the country, drawing up the obnoxious caste system, but when the
Mughals entered India, they allowed marriages with the Hindus, and
associated them in running the state. Freed slaves even became sultans.
Now I shall deal briefly with the rapid spread of Islam. In a hundred and
fifty years the march of Islam covered vast areas. On the West, the
nineteen-year old Tariq shattered the bulwarks of Spain, and with it,
captured the strategic rock which is named after him, Jabal-ul-Tariq-the
rock of Tariq or, as we now call it, Gibraltar. In the Eastern theater, the
followers of Mohammad the Prophet reached the banks of the Indus and the
Ganges. From the palaces of Vienna and France on the one side to the Great
Wall of China; from the steppes of Russia and the fortresses of Venice to
the plains of Iran and the jungles of Indonesia and Malaya; from the
romantic Danube to the ever-winding Yangtize-vast territories came under the
influence and control of people who were derelict until the Prophet of Islam
created in his followers the spirit to spread a doctrine of equality to the
world. Many westerners believe that Islam was a danger to Christianity, ~ut
this notion is unfounded. At the peak of Islam's strength, the Christians
were treated kindly everywhere and given full liberty to worship according
to their ways. The Prophet had frequently stated that the lives, properties
and laws of the Christians and the Jews were under the protection of God,
and he said, "If anyone infringes their rights, I myself will be his enemy
and, in the presence of God, I will bring a charge against him."
There have been numerous Muslims who have strayed from the Islamic path, but
that has been in spite of the law and not because of it. By token, there
have been many Christians who have been most unchristian in their dealings.
Christian priests, bishops and popes have repeatedly sworn to exterminate
the infidels, and as late as the time of Gladstone, Turkey was in danger of
being exterminated solely because she was a Muslim country. Isabella and
Ferdinand of Spain did a much better job of wiping out the Muslims of Spain
than any "infidel" had done with the Christians in any Muslims empire.
Tolerance is not the monopoly of any one religion. All prophets and
reformers have preached the love of humanity, and the followers of all the
religions have in some way violated the teachings of their founders.
Most of the literature I have read in this country on Islam has tried to
show the intolerance of the Muslim people and the militant character of
their religion. There is a reason for this propaganda and it does not lie in
a true reading of history. It is based on prejudice arising out of rivalry.
During the Dark Ages, at the time when the kings and popes of Europe were
exterminating "unbelievers," the Muslims were harbouring non-Muslims in our
lands. At the time when bigotry and hate drove out the non-Christians from
Europe in the name of heresy and inquisition, the Islamic world opened its
gates to them and gave them protection of their religious and social rights.
Pandit Nehru, the Prime Minister of India, says, "The Christianity that was
practiced there at the time was narrow and intolerant, and the contrast
between this and the general toleration of the Muslim Arabs, with their
message of human brotherhood, was marked. It was this that brought whole
peoples, weary of Christian strife to their side."
So supreme was the Muslim thrust in the West that the popes were occupied in
organizing the Christian world to exterminate the infidels in the name of
God. Eight crusades were mustered against Islam; on eight occasions the
armies of Europe set out to defeat the Muslims in their own land. The first
crusade, as you know, proved disastrous for the Muslims. The Christian
armies, pent up with zeal and determination to crush the infidels, did a
savage job of liquidating as many Muslims as came their way. The barbarism
of the first crusaders had badly scarred the face of the human race. It may
have been a glorious victory of the Christian God, but it was a gruesome act
of man against man in the name of God.
After the first crusade, from the Christian point of view, all the other
crusades were failures. When the intrepid Ghazi Salahuddin recaptured
Jerusalem, he was magnanimous to the defeated Christians, allowing all of
them to leave the Holy City after paying a ransom, and those who could not
afford a ransom, were permitted to leave through the beggars' gate; while
those who wished to stay on, were allowed to do so, inspite of the fact that
they had formed a dangerous fifth column on previous occasions. During that
time, Muslims were not only engaged in repulsing the crusaders, but also the
ferocious Mongols who repeatedly attacked Muslims from the East.
About 1228, Frederick II, grandson of Barbarossa, after being excommunicated
by Pope Gregory, went to Palestine to negotiate with the Muslims. He was
received honorably and was successful in inducing the Muslims rulers to
restore Jerusalem to him in the name of the Christian nations. This was the
most magnanimous gesture ever made, but it did not satisfy the Pope; on the
contrary, it made him still more furious because he declared in anger that
one should fight the infidel and not befriend him.
By citing these examples, I am not trying to state that only we are capable
of tolerance, but that we also have an impressive record of virtue and moral
goodness; that we are different from what the West thinks of us in the East.
We are not barbarians. Instead, we opened the doors of civilization and
culture.
The spread of Islam upset the status quo in Europe and Asia to such an
extent that in the eighth century Pepin the Short, the son of Charles
Martel, obtained the sanction of the Pope to declare himself the ruler of
the Frankish nation merely because his father had defeated the Saracens in
the Battle of Tours in 732. This Muslims defeat in a single battle ended the
Merovingian Dynasty and established the Carolingian line of kings, a dynasty
which has been the pride of the Christian world because it gave birth to
Charlemagne.
It would suffice to say, without going into further.detail, that before the
advent of the industrial revolution it was Islam that challenged the
combined powers of the West and the East.
Toynbee says, "Centuries before communism was heard of, our ancestors found
their bugbear in Islam. As late as the 16th century, Islam inspired the same
hysteria in the western hearts as communism in the 20th century. Like
communism, it wielded a sword of the spirit, against which there was no
defence in material armaments."
It is difficult to describe the yearnings of man to build for permanence. To
probe into the depths of a civilization is a time-consuming task. To
delineate the achievements of art and literature, and of science and
philosophy, of any people is a strenuous undertaking. How am I to explain
the contributions of a Hafiz or an Igbal in this brief period? Where can I
ask you to tarry for a moment and admire the fine works of art? Shall it be
Omar's Mosque in Jerusalem or the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore or the Jurna
Masjid in Delhi or the city of Fatehpur Sikri? The followers of the Prophet
have built for permanence wherever they have exerted their influence, at
Granada, at Cairo, at Jerusalem, at Baghdad and at Delhi. The splendid
Mosque of Omar, the gigantic Mosque of Hussain and the tall, dignified Qutb
Minar depict in a most striking manner the Muslim talent for creative art.
In the lofty and masculine fort at Delhi, the silver and gold ceilings, the
black marble floors, the magnificence of the Peacock Throne and splendour of
the jewelled halls, well befit the Persian inscription written in the
rhythmic sweep of the Arabian script, which still survives, "If anywhere on
earth there is paradise, it is here, it is here." The forts of Agra and
Fatehpur Sikri are today in defeated ruins, destroyed not by age but by
rapine and plunder. Their debris is a constant reminder of our defeat, a
living symbol of our disintegration. The conquerors of India must have been
blind in their aesthetic senses, for they uprooted all the delicate beauty
of our forts and mosques, our palaces and our monuments. Lord William
Bentinck once even thought of selling the Taj Mahal to a Hindu contractor
who believed that better use could be made of the material.
The living pride of our architecture is the Taj Mahal, which we in our
romantic feelings call "Love in Marble." It is the epitome of perfection,
the most profound and concise symbol of love, the most lasting appreciation
of man's affection, the most serene exhibition of his purity. On its main
entrance is a quotation from the Quran which invites "the pure in heart" to
enter "the gardens of paradise." There is nothing foreign about the Taj; it
is the product of Muslim thinking and Muslim taste. Will Durant, the
American historian, says, it is "completely Mohamedian, even the skilled
artisans were, in part, brought in from Baghdad, Constantinople and other
centres of the Muslim faith."
The gardens of Shalimar in Lahore and Nishat in Kashmir, with their
beautiful symmetry of the lawns and the cool surroundings chosen with
immaculate care, the careful plantations of alluring flowers and the
systematic structure of sparkling fountains, are a living wonder of man's
efforts to strive for the highest form of beauty. H.G.Wells says, "The
artistic and architectural remains of Moguls are still very abundant. When
people speak of Indian art without any qualification, it is usually this
great period that they have in mind." At this stage, it will be interesting
to note that before the Mongols were converted to Islam, they were ruthless
and uncivilized, but after the mass voluntary conversion of the descendants
of the warlike Chengez Khan, they developed refined and cultivated values.
Now, I would like to mention some of the Muslim contributions in the fields
of literature and science, starting with some of the universities of today
and going back to the past contributions.
The University of Al-Azhar in Cairo has the largest student body in the
world, and it is the cultural seat of the Muslim World. Then there is the
University of Istanbul, an excellent centre of learning with all the modern
facilities for educational research. Another outstanding venue of Islamic
learning is the University of Aligarh, the educational capital of the
Muslims of the subcontinent. Yet another university of fame is the Osmania
University in Hyderabad, Deccan; its fine campus, splendid buildings, and an
outstanding faculty have made it a headquarter of learning.
The influences of Muslim knowledge have been tremendous. Arabic words such
as zero, cipher, traffic, admiral, magazine, alcohol, caravan, cheque, and
tariff have become international words. The Moors of Spain have a
distinguished history. Their hard work added much to Islam's wealth.
Agriculture reached progressive stages under the Moors in Spain. They
practiced farming in a scientific manner, fertilizers were utilized by them,
they were the first to adapt crops to the quality of the soil. The Moors
excelled in horticulture; they produced new varieties of fruits and flowers,
and introduced to the West many trees and plants from the East and wrote
treatises on farming. Their skilful use of irrigation is still utilized in
Spain. They introduced the plantation of sugar, rice and cotton and also
perfumes, syrups, and a variety of wines. The Moors pioneered and perfected
the carpet: silk, silver and gold embroidery; and leather manufactures.
Says Henrietta Wagner, "We are indebted to the Saracens of Spain for the
elements of many of the useful sciences, especially chemistry. They
introduced the simple Arabic figures which we use in arithmetic. They taught
mathematics, astronomy, philosophy and medicine, and were so superior in
knowledge to the Christian nations of Europe that many Christians of all
nations went to be educated in the Arabian schools of Cordova."
Upto the fifteenth century the earth was considered as the centre of the
universe, with the sun moving around it. However, as early as the seventh
century, the Quran in its 36th Sura said, "The sun moves in a fixed place
and each star moves in its own heaven." This explains the movement of the
sun around an axis and the movement of the moon, the earth and other bodies.
When the western scientists read this explanation in the 36th Sura of the
Quran, they ridiculed it. Nine hundred years later the world of science
discarded the Ptolemaic conception, and Western astronomy adopted a line
parallel with that of the Quran.
The zero was unknown until Muhammad Ibn-Musa invented it in the ninth
century. He was also the first person to utilize the decimal notation and
give the digits the value of position. However, many Indians claim that the
zero is an Indian invention. Nevertheless, it would be safe to say that
algebra particularly is a creation of the Muslims. Al Khwarizmi, besides
writing treatises on astronomy and arithmetic, made great contributions in
algebra dealing mainly with quadratics. Omar Khayyam, who reformed the
calendar in 1079, went even further with his contributions by using cubic
equations. Spherical trigonometry is another Muslim achievement inventing
sine, tangent, and cotangent. In physics, the pendulum is an invention of
the Arabs. AlHazen developed optics and challenged the view of Ptolemy and
Euclid that the eye sends out visual rays to its object. The Arabs built
several observatories and astronomical instruments which are still used.
They calculated the angle of the ecliptic and the precession of the
equinoxes. Our universities also concentrated strongly on metaphysics,
zoology and medicine.
In chemistry, the Muslims were the first to discover and use nitrate of
silver, and nitric and sulphuric acids. Physiology and hygiene were
developed by Muslims and the rnateria medica used by our forefathers was
practically the same as today's. Muslim surgeons understood the use of
anaesthetics centuries ago and performed some of the most difficult
operations known. At the time when in Europe the practice of medicine was
forbidden by the Church, the Muslims had a well-advanced science of
medicine. Ibn Sina (Avicenna) known as "the Prince of Physicians", taught
medicine and philosophy in Ispholtan, and from the 12th to the 17th
centuries he was used in Europe as a guide to medicine. Al-Razi, who wrote
more than 200 treatises on medicine, is famous for his theses on the causes,
development and remedies of smallpox and measles.
In manufactures, the Muslims surpassed the world in beauty of design and
accuracy of workmanship. Their contribution to the development of textiles
is well. known. Muslims made glass and pottery of the finest quality,
developed all the intricate secrets of dyeing yarns and invented processes
of dressing leather. The manufacture of paper, which the Muslims learned
from the Chinese by way of Central Asia, was brought to Europe by the Arabs.
Before that, Europeans wrote on parchments.
Commerce was greatly developed by Muslim traders. This gave an impetus to
worldwide contacts and spread Arabic as a world language.
At the time of Khalifa Al-Mansur's rule in the middle of the eighth century,
a research and translation bureau of Greek, Syriac, Zend, Latin and Sanskrit
was established in Baghdad. Old monasteries in Syria were explored for
valuable manuscripts. Greek philosophy, mainly that of Plato and Aristotle,
was brought to the Muslim world by scholars driven out from old Alexandrian
schools. Ptolemy and Euclid were studied extensively in universities at
Baghdad and Cordova. When the works of Aristotle were banned in European
universities, Muslim scholars encouraged their study in these centres of
learning. Bertrand Russell says that Aristotle's reputation is mainly due to
them; in antiquity he was seldom mentioned, and was not regarded as on the
same level as Plato. The philosophical works of Plato and especially of
Aristotle, have had such a great influence on the Muslim mind that ever
since the eighth century they have become standard subjects for study in
Islamic schools. The materialist school of Greek philosophy led to the rise
of rationalism and materialism in the Muslim world. The intellectual clashes
of the two schools of thought spread from Baghdad over all the Muslim
countries, and finally reached Spain. In an age of religious fanaticism, the
nature of God was discussed most freely in the various schools of Muslim
metropolises. Ibn-e-Rushd, (Averroes) the illustrious philosopher, discussed
with full freedom the nature of God in a spirit of free inquiry. Despite the
rigid religious fanaticism of the ruling dynasty his views were heard and
tolerated.
Muslim literature has been prolific both in poetry and in prose; Omar
Khayyam as a poet pales into insignificance when compared with poets of the
caliber of Sadi or Hafiz or Nizami. The dazzling tales of Arabian Nights are
only a fraction of our literature. However, our literature is little known
to the West, perhaps because it is difficult to translate and perhaps
because of the traditional difference in the matters of style and subject
matter.
The flowering of Muslim culture has derived its inspiration from many
sources; the Arabs have given it sensitivity and simplicity; the Turks, a
spirit of vigour; the Indians, a rare subtlety; and the Iranians, the grace
and delicacy of their creative talents.
We are living in a world torn by dissension, a world in which international
relations are dominated by two factors - collective security and the balance
of power, and according to the influence of our chaotic times, we are forced
to align ourselves in blocs. In one breath, the leaders of the world preach
peace and, in the next, threaten to obliterate civilization with atom bombs.
Our position is pathetically unstable. Imperialism has sapped our vitality
and drained our blood in every part of the globe. This is the time when the
young generation of Muslims, who will be the leaders of a new force, of an
order based on justice, wants the end of exploitation. We still retain a
host of homogeneous affinities and with the unity of our culture we can
unite again politically. In an Islamic confederation lies the future
security of the disciples of Mohammad. In order to achieve this goal, we
will have to tussle with destiny. To civilization we have given the essence
of growth, and in return we have become a plaything of foreign powers. In
Indonesia we are being butchered because we demand freedom from foreign
oppression, and we have enemies from Morocco to Java. I do not ask for unity
in order to seek revenge, but in order to safeguard those rights which still
remain in our possession. In order to be safe and secure, we have to be
powerful, and that we cart only do through unity. Force, unfortunately, has
to be met by force. In our hands lies the future of our people and the
responsibility of protecting their liberty. We will give to the world a
blueprint of a brotherhood of mankind just as our founder gave the formula
of human co-operation to the world thirteen hundred years ago.
During the First World War, the Indian Muslims refused to fight against the
Muslims of Turkey. When Turkey was attacked in 1911, the Muslims of India
felt a spontaneous wave of personal sympathy for them. The Muslim leader,
Mohammad Ali and his brother were imprisoned by the British for their
pro-Turkish feelings. The Khalifat Movement epitomized the fraternity of a
Muslim people for their fellow Islamic nation. Mohammad lqbal, the poet of
Pakistan, has been immortalized for expressing Muslim sentiments on the fate
of Turkey. When Kamal Pasha died, a gloom blanketed Muslim India.
I was very young then, but I still remember my servant telling me with tears
in his eyes that he would rather have heard of the death of his only son
than to be told of the death of Mustafa Kamal. I must point out the deep
feeling of brotherhood among the Islamic people of Indonesia and the Arab
nations. After World War II, we in our country took a great deal of interest
in the crisis of Iran and were jubilant when the tension subsided. When
Pakistan came into being we received Muslim delegations from all over the
world, and were touched by the affection shown by the Muslims of the world
for our new State. Very recently in an article, "Labours of the North West",
in the London Economist, tributes were paid to the sense of Islamic
brotherhood developing between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Making a comparison
between the British and Pakistan administrations in the tribal areas, the
article says, "The Pakistan government has had the advantage of being able
to appeal to Islamic sentiments, and it has, consequently, been able to show
decisiveness which seemed lacking in the previous administration."
I could go on indefinitely into the evidence of harmony that exists among
the Islamic peoples. However, there is no guarantee that this feeling will
last forever; as a matter of fact, there are signs of new tensions. It is my
firm belief that these bonds will have to be consciously strengthened before
the Muslim nations begin to industrialize on a larger scale. With rapid
technological advances, and the values going into it, traits of the past
might come under new strains. It is incumbent upon us to consolidate our
advantageous position at this stage and build a base for a new order bound
by ancient ties. Another factor that will promote this unity is the sense of
grief and grievance felt by all Islamic nations against the calculated
injustice done to them, the common oppression experienced by all of them
with out exception.
Some people object to an Islamic confederation on the grounds that there
will not be any economic gains from such an association. 'The co-operation
of nations is an advancement. It has political and economic benefits but
even if the benefits are not colossal, even if certain Muslim countries have
to make sacrifices economically for a few years, such a union should take
place, for one blood, one culture, and one heritage subjected to ruthless
exploitation for over a century demand this association. This is the century
in which underdeveloped countries are being developed. Our potential
economic resources are abundant as is amply indicated by the Western
interests in our theatre of the world.
Unfortunately, because of our feebleness, our economic resources are being
most unscrupulously exploited by outsiders. The exploiters are shamefully
busy filling the coffers of the money-mad and cut-throat business interests
of the West. An Islamic confederation even at its weakest, will take charge
of the wealth of its people and place it in the hands of its own people.
Now I would like to present a skeleton of this plan. According to the law of
evolution, this association will. develop in stages; first will come a
harmonizing of our own people by massive contacts, by a large-scale exchange
of students, professors, artists and all other intellectuals who influence
the minds of men. Those intellectuals, through conventions and conferences
will discuss vital common problems. In due course permanent information and
cultural centres and public relations bureaux will be established in our
large cities. Our people will be encouraged to travel in our countries on
concessional rates. Passport restrictions will be lifted, and communications
developed. These efforts will be followed by economic co-operation climaxing
in a loose political alliance, from one continent to the other.
If we work conscientiously in this direction, I think that within the space
of the next twenty years, this movement will take a definite shape. I must
make it clear that it will not be based on a theocratic principle. There are
some non-Muslim countries in the Middle East which are today members of
Muslim Arab Leagues and which will willingly enter this union because of
mutual interests. We will have to look mainly in the direction of Pakistan
for this divine inspiration. From Turkey we will have to take the means of
attaining methods of modernity without losing the Islamic identity, and from
Iran the spirit of accommodation. The Arabs and the Africans, the Indians
and the Indonesians will each render a profound contribution. The new
concepts will have to be mingled with the spiritual values, the maxims of
democracy with those of socialism. We will have to raise from our soil an
Ataturk or a Jinnah who will mobilize our people, rekindle our sprits,
reconcile our traditions and customs with technological developments, and
establish an impregnable bulwark.
There are some people who say that Turkey will shy away from such a union.
There is no truth is such a belief. Turkey was forced to retreat from the
Muslim orbit because the weaknesses of the Muslim nations were heavily
sapping her vitality. Thus, because of the derelict position of the Muslim
world and the delicate position of Turkey in European affairs, Turkey for
her own security had no alternative but to concentrate fully towards the
developments in the West. Because of her unique position and strategic
location, Turkey has been forced to sign agreements with countries that have
always sought to destroy her. She has been forced to bow her head to a
country thousands of miles away from her only because she cannot turn today
in another direction. Turkey has no desire to lose her Islamic character,
and with the organization of a potent unification of the Muslim world,
dictating its own terms, Turkey will align herself with her own people. With
her own people awakening, Turkey will one day gladly untie the chains of the
West and amalgamate with those who are of her own kind.
Today, I am as hopeful of an Islamic confederation as I was of the creation
of Pakistan before the division of India. Pakistan has taken its rightful
place in the family of nations; tomorrow a confederation of the Islamic
nations will be a reality. Those who mocked the foundation of the largest
Muslim nation are now retreating from their previous stands. It is
inevitable that the small pebbles that are endeavouring to obstruct the flow
of events will be washed aside. We shall toil ceaselessly for the
rejuvenation and renaissance of our people.
Toynbee says, "Pan-Islamism is dormant-yet we have to reckon with the
possibility that the sleeper may awake, if ever the cosmopolitan proletariat
of the 'westernized' world revolts against western domination and cries out
for anti-western leadership. That call might have incalculable psychological
effects in evoking the militant spirit of Islam - even if it has slumbered
as long as the Seven Sleepers-because it might awaken echoes of the heroic
age. On two historic occasions in the past, Islam has been the sign in which
an oriental society has risen up victoriously against an occidental
intruder. If the present situation of mankind were to precipitate a 'race
war', Islam might be moved to play her historic role once again."
Destiny demands an Islamic association, political reality justifies it,
posterity awaits it, and by God we will have it. Courage is in our blood; we
are the children of a rich heritage. We shall succeed.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
University of Southern California
Long Angeles
April 1, 1948
(Speech delivered at the University of Southern California, USA, as a
young student at the age of twenty)
Mohtarma Bhutto
welcomes Commonwealth’s concern over slow democratisation in Pakistan
Islamabad September 22, 2005: Former
Prime Minister and Chairperson Pakistan Peoples Party Mohtarma Benazir
Bhutto has welcomed the proceedings of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action
committee which discussed Pakistan's slow progress to democracy as well as
the uniform issue during its session in New York on 17 September 2005.
In the meeting, the Commonwealth Ministerial Group reviewed developments in
Pakistan since its last meeting in London in February 2005. It received an
update from the Secretary-General on the local bodies' elections which were
observed by a Commonwealth Expert Team (CET) in August 2005.
The Group expressed concern on the slow progress in the democratisation
process. It stressed that there were areas where improvements still needed
to be made to the electoral process and the political environment in
Pakistan. CMAG endorsed the recommendations of the CET for strengthening the
independence of the Election Commission and empowering it to use its
executive powers to enforce its decisions and the code of conduct for
elections.
In a statement today the PPP Chairperson said that she hoped that with the
Group's recommendation to the Secretary-General to intensify ongoing high
level contact with Pakistan, the Commonwealth would be able to play a more
substantive role in helping the people of its member state obtain their
democratic rights.
She noted that following the local elections which were rigged at all
levels, there were sections in Pakistan that were becoming disillusioned
with the possibility of Islamabad ever holding a fair election. Such
disillusionment was leading them to consider approaching other international
organisations to hold elections.
It may be noted that although PPP has not yet decided to approach the United
Nations or the Commonwealth to conduct Pakistani elections, the United
Nations has been conducting elections in certain parts of the world.
During its meeting, CMAG reaffirmed that the holding by the same person of
the offices of the Head of State and Chief of Army Staff is incompatible
with the basic principles of democracy and the spirit of the Harare
Commonwealth principles, as well as CMAG's expectations. It also restated
its strong view that until the two offices are no longer combined in the
same person, the process of democratisation in Pakistan will not be
irreversible. The Group again urged President Musharraf to relinquish one of
his two offices, certainly no later than the end of the current Presidential
term in 2007.
CMAG called on the Government of Pakistan to continue and intensify progress
in fostering a sustainable and inclusive political culture, improving
democratic governance, strengthening political and oversight institutions,
supporting local governments, protecting human rights, respecting media
freedoms and improving the position of women and minorities. It also called
for the further widening of the democratic space so that all who wish can
participate in the electoral process.
CMAG decided to keep Pakistan on its Agenda.
The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group on the Harare Declaration
(CMAG) was chaired by the Hon Olu Adeniji, Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Nigeria, and was attended by Hon Tuila'epa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi, Prime
Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Samoa, Hon Frederick A
Mitchell, Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Public Service of The Bahamas
(Vice-Chairman), Hon Pierre Pettigrew, Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Canada, Hon K. Natwar Singh, Minister of External Affairs of India, Hon
Michael Frendo, Minster of Foreign Affairs of Malta, Hon Anura Bandaranaike,
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Tourism of Sri Lanka and Hon Dr Abdul-Kader
Shareef, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation
of the United Republic of Tanzania
Our Friends the
Pakistanis
A new book looks at the history of the Afghan jihad.
BY MASOOD FARIVAR
Wednesday, September 14, 2005: It was a
scene straight out of a John le Carré novel, the kind of cloak-and-dagger
rendezvous that CIA spooks can only fantasize about. The time: November
2004. The place: a compound deep inside the Old City of Peshawar, on
Pakistan's rugged northwest frontier. The participants: Karim, a
30-something former Afghan mujahideen fighter; Mohammed Hakim, a slightly
younger, bearded representative of a Taliban splinter group holding three
United Nations workers hostage in Afghanistan; and Kathy Gannon, a
correspondent for Associated Press.
Hakim explained to Ms. Gannon the purpose of the abduction: to "put an end
to the boasting of the Afghan government, the United Nations and the U.S.
administration about the uneventful presidential election" in Afghanistan
that had taken place only a month before, the one that had elected Hamid
Karzai president.
The group, even more militant in its opposition to Mr. Karzai and his
pro-Western government than erstwhile Taliban leader Mullah Omar, was
divided over whether to kill the hostages. Karim claimed to sympathize with
their plight and to understand that the abduction wasn't winning the Taliban
any friends. Still, he said that he had little choice. It was a surreal
meeting in many ways, but what made it especially remarkable to Ms. Gannon
was how relaxed Hakim seemed. A well-known Taliban terrorist, he was
supposedly a wanted man in Pakistan. Why did he seem so nonchalant? Soon
enough the reason became clear.
Karim abruptly ended the conversation and headed out to his waiting car. Ms.
Gannon caught a glimpse of the license plate--it started with the number 83.
From her years of experience she had learned that, in Pakistan, such a
number belongs only to plates that have been issued by the ISI, Pakistan's
military intelligence service. This numeric talisman confirmed what she had
long suspected: that three years after Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's
president, had made an about-face and ditched the Taliban under U.S.
pressure, his military intelligence service was still offering support to
Islamist groups, including a resurgent Taliban.
Well before we come across this anecdote in "I Is for Infidel," we have
grown accustomed to Ms. Gannon's enterprising instincts and, not least, her
eye for the telling detail. Her closely observed chronicle of Afghanistan's
descent into chaos, and its attempts to rebound, is full of vivid incident
and astute analysis. She conveys with particular skill the Afghans' sense of
despair as the world abandoned them and their country slid into anarchy,
only to be taken over by the Taliban and al Qaeda.
For causing this tragedy Ms. Gannon takes everyone to task: the former
anti-Soviet mujahideen for turning their country into a killing field and
for committing unspeakable crimes; the U.N. for ignoring the Taliban's
gruesome rule in the forlorn hope that to do so would promote peace; and the
U.S. for failing to court moderate Taliban members and later for sacrificing
Afghanistan's security for the sake of prosecuting the war in Iraq. But she
saves her sharpest indictment for Pakistan's military and intelligence
service. She argues that it has been in cahoots with terrorist groups for
decades, groups driven by a "jihad ideology" according to which Islam
justifies all kinds of violence.
The military's omnipresence in Pakistani life, Ms. Gannon notes, is in part
a legacy of British rule, under which Hindus dominated the civilian
bureaucracy and Muslims the military. When the British left, a feudal ruling
class arose. Its members included, alongside major landowners, military men
with a strong religious sense of mission and no interest in establishing
democratic institutions. As one Pakistani general tells Ms. Gannon: "Jihad
has always been a motivating concept for our troops from day one." The
concept motivated Pakistan's military all the more forcefully, in the
decades after independence, with each of Pakistan's humiliating defeats at
the hands of India.
Of course, religion is only part of the story. For as long as it has
existed, Pakistan has seen Afghanistan as a source of "strategic depth" in
its conflict with India. To that end it has backed pro-Pakistan groups in
Afghanistan, groups that are often pro-Islamist. Whether Pakistan has been
led by the secular Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in the 1970s or by the fundamentalist
Zia ul-Haq in the 1980s or by the pro-Western Gen. Musharraf in recent
years, the policy has remained the same.
But it took a toxic turn with the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which
allowed the Pakistani military to turn what started off as a national war of
liberation into a holy war that it would serve in whatever way it could. The
Taliban, founded as a populist movement to end Afghanistan's anarchy
following the Soviets' withdrawal, became a pawn in this game. The ISI, with
generous U.S. funding, played a crucial role throughout: It decided which of
its favorite Afghan Islamist groups was to receive weapons, and it created a
curriculum to teach a generation of Afghan refugee boys that "I is for
infidel" and "J is for jihad."
"In hindsight," writes Ms. Gannon, "it was a mistake [for the West] to
support Zia and his Islamic fervor, which gave rise to extremist militants."
It was also a mistake to support Gen. Musharraf, whose military "is
strangling Pakistan's civil society and protecting the religious right." So
compelling is Ms. Gannon's case that by the end of the book, when she
asserts almost in passing that Osama bin Laden may well be under the
protection of the Pakistani military, it is easy to believe her.
It is all a cautionary tale about alliances of convenience. But will anyone
listen? "Afghanistan's tragedy," Ms. Gannon observes in her epilogue, "is
that to the world's powers, it has never really mattered--or mattered for
long."
Mr. Farivar is a reporter for Dow Jones Newswires. You can buy "I Is for
Infidel" from the OpinionJournal bookstore.
PPP rebuts
official spokesman’s statement
Islamabad September 21, 2005: Reacting
to the official spokesman’s statement tonight on the proceedings before the
Investigation Magistrate in Geneva on Monday in the SGS case a spokesman of
the Party has issued the following statement.
"The crux of Mohtarma Bhutto’s deposition before the Investigation
Magistrate is that she denied that the companies or accounts of those
companies were her. She also denied having purchased the jewelry.
"Mohtarma Bhutto also stated that the pre-shipment inspection contract was
awarded in a transparent manner. The contract stood on its own merit as was
evident from the report of the auditors, she had said.
"This is the position taken by Mohtaram Bhutto and this is what she has been
saying all along since 1997 when the allegations were first leveled and a
case against her instituted in Pakistan.
"The regime should address these issues raised by Mohtarma instead of
confusing the people by giving a one sided version of what transpired before
the Investigation Magistrate in Geneva.
"The trial court in Pakistan convicted her but the Supreme Court not only
overturned the conviction but also observed ‘bias of the trial court floated
on the surface of the record’, that resulted in the resignation of two
judges from the Bench. The Supreme Court’s ruling came after tapes of
conversation between the trial judge and the NAB prosecutors came to surface
revealing how justice had been perjured.
"The regime is giving a spin to what transpired before a foreign
Investigation Magistrate only to confuse and confound the people".
Mohtarma Bhutto
appears before Geneva magistrate Denies charges says case is politically
motivated Meets press, lashes at military dictatorship
Islamabad September 19, 2005: Mohtarma
Benazir Bhutto today appeared before Swiss Investigation Magistrate in
Geneva and recorded her statement in the SGS case.
She was assisted by a Swiss defence lawyer. Defence counsel Farooq Naek and
Political Secretary Naheed Khan have also accompanied her to Geneva.
Mohtarma Bhutto informed the Investigation Magistrate that she neither owned
the Swiss companies allegedly involved in money laundering nor had purchased
the jewellery. She said that the pre-shipment inspection contract was
awarded to SGS in a transparent and open manner and there was no underhand
dealing involved in the award of contract.
The Investigation magistrate later adjourned the case that will be taken up
again after four to six weeks.
Later addressing a press conference in Geneva Mohtarma Bhutto said that the
cases against her were politically motivated. She said that she was fighting
military dictatorship in the country which was hell bent upon eliminating
her.
Mohtarma Bhutto said that the military dictatorship was against the women as
was manifested by the callous remarks of General Musharraf in Washington
saying that the women in Pakistan got themselves raped to make money or get
foreign visas.
She said she would fight to the last and not succumb to the military
dictators.
PPP USA holds
demonstration against General Musharraf
Islamabad, 19 September 2005: Pakistan
People Party USA held a huge protest demonstration in New York against
Pakistani military dictator General Musharraf on Saturday, the 17th
September.
The demonstration was attended by all the office bearers of the party and
members of Asian American Network. The demonstrators held Pakistani and
Party flags, placards and Banners demanding General Musharraf to leave
presidency, restoration of democracy, withdrawal of all false cases against
Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, Senator Asif Ali Zardari and other PPP leaders.
The PPP, USA passed several resolutions demanding General Musharraf’s
resignation, end of military intervention in country’s politics, withdrawal
of false and concocted cases against PPP leadership, and the military to
return to barracks.
A large number of PPP workers attended the protest against General
Musharraf, organized by ANAA, a women group against violence on women. The
demonstration was held in front of Roosevelt Hotel, where General Musharraf
stayed during his US visit.
Mohtarma Bhutto
asks Musharraf to tender apology to the nation
Islamabad September 18, 2005: Former
Prime Minister and Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party Mohtarma
Benazir Bhutto has asked General Pervez Musharraf to tender unqualified
apology to the people particularly the women of Pakistan for his most
insensitive and callous remarks about the country’s mothers and sisters in
Washington the other day.
General Pervez Musharraf's remarks has brought immense shame and anguish and
degraded the mothers, sisters and daughters, indeed the whole nation, she
said in a statement today.
In an interview with the Washington Post the General explaining the ever
rising incidents of rape in the country is quoted to have said: "This has
become a moneymaking concern. A lot of people say if you want to go abroad
and get a visa for Canada or citizenship and be a millionaire, get yourself
raped."
Mohtarma Bhutto said that General Musharraf’s remarks only proved his low
esteem of the women in Pakistan and showed that his claims of enlightened
moderation and women emancipation were no more than a ruse to hoodwink the
international opinion and a fraud. It must awaken the world to the stark
reality of the plight of women in Pakistan who have to fight male prejudices
from the lowest to the head of state, she said.
She complimented the Amnesty International for publicly denouncing General’s
remarks about women. The AI in a public statement called the remarks
"callous and insulting" and demanded "a public apology from Musharraf to the
women of Pakistan and especially to victims of rape, sexual assault, and
other forms of violence that are rampant with impunity in Pakistan". The
amnesty described the statement is an "offense to women all over the world".
Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin also said that he raised the matter with
Musharraf saying, " I stated unequivocally that comments such as that are
not acceptable and that violence against women is a blight that besmirches
all humanity".
Mukhtaran Mai, a gang rape victim in Pakistan fighting for justice, has said
that Musharraf can take away all the riches she made from the gang rape, but
give her justice.
She said that no woman could subject her to such a horrible experience to
make some bucks.
The former Prime Minster said that the laws in the country were already
skewed against women. The hudood ordinance required a raped woman to produce
four adult Muslim male witnesses as proof of rape or be prepared to be tried
for ‘qazf’ (false accusations), she said.
She said that after General Musharraf’s callus remarks the fight for justice
for women will become even more difficult. Now if a woman cried against
dreadful crime she will also be accused of making money or seeking foreign
visa because the country’s referendum elect President has decreed so, she
said.
Mohtarma Bhutto said that General Musharraf must tender unqualified apology
and not make it an issue of ego. Before he returns to the country from
foreign tour he must tender this apology, she said.
She also asked the human rights activist, the legal fraternity, women action
groups and international community to raise voice and force Musharraf to
tender apology.
September 12th
sitting of Senate Finance Committee illegal
—Senator Akbar Khawaja
Islamabad, 17 September 2005: Senator
Dr. Akbar Khawaja has denounced the sitting of Senate Standing Committee on
Finance and Economic Affairs held on September 12, 2005 against the rules
due to a missing quorum. Only two member of the Committee were present on
Monday sitting. According to the Rule 155 (of the Rules of Procedure and
Conduct of Business in the Senate), "The quorum to constitute a sitting of a
Committee shall be three".
The Committee discussed price hike and stock market issues, including
necessary steps to be taken to stabilize prices and control inflation.
Senator Khawaja who is also member of the Standing Committee on Finance has
criticized that government is not following the rules. Senator Akbar Khawaja
observed that any decision taken in the committee meeting of 12th September
will be null and void. Senator Khawaja demanded to hold another meeting to
rediscuss the Agenda items.
"Committee system that became operational after almost 18 months is not
working properly due to poor parliamentary governance", he added. Against
the Senate traditions, Chairs of all Committee have been given to the
members of the treasury benches. There has been not even a single meeting of
some of the Committees. Senator Khawaja further pointed out that many
members belonging to the opposition have been limited only to 2 committees
while members of treasury 
