Tying the GAP to globalization and paranioa
Modern-day Pakistan began with independence from British India on August 14, 1947.[4][5] The political history of eventual birth of the country began in the aftermath of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, which culminated in 90 years of direct rule by the British Crown and subsequently, spawned a successful freedom struggle led by the Indian National Congress and later by the All India Muslim League. The latter was founded in 1906 to protect Muslim interests and rose to popularity in the late 1930s amid fears of neglect and under-representati on of Muslims in politics. On the 29 December 1930, Muhammad Iqbal called for an autonomous state in "northwestern India for Indian Muslims".[6] Muhammad Ali Jinnah espoused the Two Nation Theory and led the Muslim League to adopt the Lahore Resolution[7] of 1940, demanding the formation of an independent Pakistan.
Pakistan became independent from British India as a Muslim-majority state with two wings - West Pakistan and East Pakistan. Independence witnessed unprecedented and prologed communal riots across India and Pakistan, eventually resulting in millions of Indian Muslims migrating to Pakistan and millions of Pakistan's Hindus and Sikhs
Pakistan declared itself an Islamic republic on adoption of a costitution in 1956, but the civilian rule was stalled by the 1956 military coup d'etat by Ayub Khan, who ruled during a period of internal instability and a second war with India in 1965. Economic grievances and political dissent in East Pakistan led to violent political tensions and army repression, escalating into civil war[8] followed by the third war with India. This ultimately led to the secession of East Pakistan and the brith of Bangladesh.[9]
Civilian rule resumed from 1972 to 1977 under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, until he was deposed by General Zia-ul-Haq, who became the country's third military president. Pakistan's secular policies were replaced by the Islamic Shariah legal code, which increased religious influences on the civil service and the military. With the death of Zia-ul-Haq in 1988, Benazir Bhutto, daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was elected as the first female Prime Minister of Pakistan. Over the next decade, she alternated power with Nawaz Sharif, as the country's political and economic situation worsened. Military tensions in the Kargil conflict[10] with India were followed by a 1999 coup d'état in which GeneralPervez Musharraf assumed executive powers.[11]
In 2001, Musharraf named himself President after the resignation of Rafiq Tarar. In the 2002 Parliamentary Elections, Musharraf transferred executive powers to newly elected Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali, who was succeeded in the 2004 by Shaukat Aziz. On November 15 2007 the National Assembly completed its term and a caretaker government was appointed with the former Chairman of The Senate,Muhammad Mian Soomro as Prime Minister. Following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, resulted in a series of important political developments. Asif Ali Zardari was eventually elected as the new President.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
But there is a political side to the Paranoia.
From one of our sources inside the Beltway.
"The Paki's are intensely paranoid of foreign influences. They see themselves surrounded by enemies such as Russia, India, now the US. They are very gossipy and rumor driven and there are a number of fantasies that play to that mass hysteria at times. The internet has great power to inform and also to deceive.
One rumor is that the US and India are trying to partition Pakistan, breaking off the Pakhtun and Baloch areas. while I personally agree with that idea for the benefit of Pakistan and all of its subnationals, Paki's don't see it that way at all. They see the world as constantly trying to take away their resources and diminish their national status.
The partition from India caused millions of deaths and dislocation, the loss of Bangladesh, the partition of Kashmir, the autonomous status of the FATA areas, the autonomy of Balochistan, the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. All of those are seen as historical conspiracies against Pakistan by foreign powers. So there is some basis however internally misunderstood and lacking context.
There is a very popular rumor that the Mehsuds are paid US/CIA/RAW (india) agents. It is well known that ther Mehsuds direct most of the internal domestic attacks in Pakistan. So it is an easy nexus that we are behind it, trying to create chaos so that we can take over/invade/partition
Publicly, Paki leaders scoff at the idea, while privately they encourage it. The civilian leadership likes the paranoia because it allows tham to demonstrate their leadership, opposing foreign powers, standing up to the US, etc. The civilian leadership has a very iffy hold on Pakistan, ruling at the pleasure of the Army. So rumor/fear-moingering is a tactic used by both the Army (to a lesser degree) and the civilian government to obtain control. No different than Iran where you have a shadow Republican Guard government. In Pakistan, the Army is not a shadow, they directly run most of the economy.
It is all internal gamesmanship, playing to the people's fears, hence the polls. The closer you get to the few in the ruling classes of Pakistan (feudals, Army officers, lawyers/judges, Islamists), the less paranoia you see."
Ahmed Rashid: Pakistan conspiracy theories stifle debate.
Switch on any of the dozens of satellite news channels now available in Pakistan.
You will be bombarded with talk show hosts who are mostly obsessed with demonising the elected government, trying to convince viewers of global conspiracies against Pakistan led by India and the United States or insisting that the recent campaign of suicide bomb blasts around the country is being orchestrated by foreigners rather than local militants.
Viewers may well ask where is the passionate debate about the real issues that people face - the crumbling economy, joblessness, the rising cost of living, crime and the lack of investment in health and education or settling the long-running insurgency in Balochistan province.
The answer is nowhere.
...Recently, one senior retired army officer claimed that Hakimullah Mehsud - the leader of the Pakistani Taliban which is fighting the army in South Waziristan and has killed hundreds in daily suicide bombings in the past five weeks - had been whisked to safety in a US helicopter to the American-run Bagram airbase in Afghanistan.
In other words the Pakistani Taliban are American stooges, even as the same pundits admit that US-fired drone missiles are targeting the Pakistani Taliban in Waziristan.
These are just the kind of blatantly contradictory and nut-case conspiracy theories that get enormous traction on TV channels and in the media - especially when voiced by such senior former officials.
...The army has not helped by constantly insisting that the vicious Pakistani Taliban campaign to topple the state and install an Islamic emirate is not a local campaign waged by dozens of extremist groups, some of whom were trained by the military in the 1990s, but the result of foreign conspiracies.
Paki you have access to the Internet, where is
their critical thinking?
Where are the professional broadcasters, NEWSMEN, Journalists?? Some one needs to step UP..Ahmed Rashid???
Gerald
Anthropologist
.
posted by gerald at
11/29/2009 01:30:00 AM
READ MORE
READ OR SUBSCRIBE, Our WAR OSINT on Twitter
Tweet
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home