[nukkad]

["Mahesh chandra gupta" <>]

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Never advise anyone to go to war or to marry. -Spanish Proverb
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I had posted on the list Fauzia Wahab's note on EU's report on Pak 
elections, and my comments on it. She has been kind to send reply 
to me. The same is pasted below as feedback to the list.

MC Gupta
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Dear Mr.MC Gupta,
Thank you for a very thought provoking comment. Please don't 
compare India
with Pakistan. Politically India is a mature democratic country, 
with its
roots deep in the political culture. But unfortunately the fruits 
of
democracy were denied to our people, due to a very politically 
ambitious
Army and a weak political leadership. As you know the first 
elected prime
minister was assassinated, the second hanged on a fictitious case, 
the third
hounded by politically motivated corruption cases and the fourth 
one was
sent to exile. No political party is allowed to work in a free and 
fair
environment, except those who agree to toe the line of the army, 
and once
you toe the line of others, you can never serve your people 
independently.
Consequently, our civil society has become de-politicized and 
people
specially learned people have become inward looking. They avoid 
taking up
matters of collective concern. They would prefer to associate 
themselves
with an NGO rather than being attached with a political party.
It is indeed a very sad scenario. However, the Pakistan Peoples 
Party has
survived all the onslaught of the establishment in other words the 
Army,
and is trying its utmost to meet the political challenge and to 
create a
political environment in our country.
As far as your comment is concerned on our Chairperson, I would 
like to
submit that the PPP was forcibly ousted from power on charges of
unimaginable corruption. Because the establishment knows that this 
is one
such sector where you can malign your opponent with all kinds of 
malicious
stories without proving your allegation. Ever since, our 
Chairperson is
being hounded with of all kinds of allegation, and in this 
connection four
cases had been instituted
against her, but none of it had been conclusive. Except the SGS 
case, in
which the two times prime minister was sentenced to seven years 
of
imprisonment. The case was sent to the Supreme Court, where the 
whole bench
set aside the sentence and called for a retrial, as there were too 
many
lacunas in the case which the judge deliberately committed. The 
judge was
declared as bias. One learned Judge of the Supreme Court had 
remarked that
the case does not even qualify for hearing. But you would be 
surprised to
know, that instead of sacking the judge, persecution of Mohtarma 
Benazir
Bhutto continued unabated. During the last one year, Mohtarma had 
tried many
times to come home, but she was threatened with arrest, if she 
dared to come
home. So much so that special ordinances were promulgated to deny 
her basic
right to come back home. In the re-trial of the SGS case, she was 
declared
an absconder and without any proper trial sentenced to three years 
of
sentence for not appearing in the court. When the rulers came to 
know that
under the constitution this sentence would not create any 
impediments for
contesting elections, they unilaterally amended the constitution 
and
promulgated another ordinance under which a person convicted in 
absentia as
an absconder would be not be eligible to contest election.
As far as the issue of religion is concerned I can vouch for one 
thing that
Islam preaches peace and tolerance. It is very unfortunate that 
our religion
has been hijacked by bigots and fanatics. This phase shall pass 
too.
However I have strong reservation about your comment that Pakistan 
is a
failed state. I don't know from where this notion has cropped up 
please
don't believe it. Pakistan is moving forward as India is moving 
forward. The
difference is that Pakistan's forward movement is due to its 
innovative and
hardworking people, while India's development is the result of 
concerted
efforts by the state and strong democratic government.
Sincerely
Fauzia Wahab


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