Musharraf's mistakes...

The blunders were too costly...
On being freed, a man went wild dancing on the street and hit the nose of a person. He went to court. The hitter defended that he was a free man and could do any thing. The judge decreed: right, but the moment his nose came in your path the other man's freedom began. So here is the punishment.
Freedom comes with responsibility Sir...
This is precisely what Mr. Musharraf and the media have not understood. Freedom of the Press is fine but they cannot go wild as they have for the past so many months. Any freedom comes with responsibility. Where is the responsibility. Where is integrity to your profession?
Inept political leadership caused the take over of military...
The media does nothing concrete and positive but simply and only criticizes the President. Yes he came to power as a military man. But the situation was created by sheer arrogance and irresponsibility of the political leadership. Who can deny this?
Mr.Nawaz Sharif's life saved...
You just can't take one thing and keep harping on it. You must also see if Mr. Nawaz Sharif had not done what he did, for which he was punished for life, the opportunity would not have been there for the Junta to take over. He left for ten years on his own and got a pardon.
Army should be in the barracks for sure but the entire blame cannot go to them alone...
I am one of those who firmly believes that the army should be in the barracks for sure. But the ground reality is different. This guy when he took over, Pakistan was about to default. There were no reserves left. Nawaz had indeed become an elected dictator. Remember what he had done with the previous Chief of Staff. So blaming The President for just belonging to the army is not fair.
Ministry of Information erred grossly... where were the guidelines Sir?
The way, without guidelines, freedom of press was given by the President was his biggest blunder. While this should have helped Pakistan and Pakistanis it has helped the opposition. Media immediately took sides. I was amazed why the media rather a few in the media were taking sides instead of being neutral and just reporting and anlyzing. They cannot conduct media trials as they have been doing.
Media trials by the unscrupulous should be stopped...
They would start with judgments "that the government has totally failed, what do you think?" Leading question. You get the desired answer not necessarily the correct one. Why are some journalists doing this, guys like Kamran Khan and Kashif Abbasi etc? They would go to the extent of that 16 crore people have passed a judgment etc. As if they have taken a poll or done a referendum. Media trials going unabated. And their holier than thou approach. My God. I was all perplexed.
The journalists are scared of PPP. Why? Where is the freedom of press then?
On hard investigation I found that they are very scared of PPP even a passing negative reference would attract a threat. Some say that they get paid extra and also get the protection. Now media is power and if such unscrupulous elements get in, they exploit. And they have. President does not take action. They know it and are having a field day. They have even abused the President and the freedom they are enjoying for the first time in 60 years. Does it happen any where else in the world?
Freedom of the press is a lethal weapon cannot be used with carelessness...
In India for instance pass a negative reference against Rahul Gandhi, then see what happens to them, leave alone Sonia and Manmohan Singh. Their houses will be burnt and they will be taught a lesson that will be a deterrence for all other journalists. Freedom of the press should have been given with due guidelines so that it did not become a free lethal weapon in the hands of the opposition. Pakistan media is like wild bull right now.
Is Muhtharama an official title of the corrupt and twice failed ex-Prime Mininisters? Media should refer to her as Mrs.Benazir that is all...
Why should Benazir be called a Muhtharama in media? Their party workers call her that, it is fine. Does one call Respected His Highness Mr. Bush or Mr. Gordon or Mr.Blair in international media? This is ridiculous. Is it some official title for the corrupt, a former Prime Minister twice removed on corruption charges and misrule or something. A Pakistani journalist is not a PPP worker. If he is then surely he or she can call her Muhtharama although corrupt people cannot be respected.
This is a major blunder of The President. Other blunders you will read later. Keep reading my blog. Thank you.

Oh Karachi!

Benazir what have you done?
Don't make a joke of the poor!
You talk of the poor. But what have you done with them. What have you given them? Hundreds cut into half and hundreds more maimed with hands or legs amputated. You and the rich are safe and fine but the hundreds of poor and scores of poorer policemen have died. Wish you had been less selfish.
You made the job of security impossible...
You were told to delay, to be careful. You had lost your own brother in your own regime. Have you forgotten that? With your foolhardiness and bravado, you made the job of the security impossible. Thanks to the security arrangements you are at least alive. The poor have died though.
Blame game won't help... it is in bad taste.
Your husband, Sheri Rahman and the irresponsible media lost no time in blaming the government. Yes they could have done more, probably. But it is always easy to be wise after the event. But in such sad moments the blame game was not in good taste. As a neutral observer I wonder what more could the government have done? PPP had an absolute free hand to do any thing. They did. They put up a fabulous show with total disregard to the inconvenience to the local traffic and local residents of Karachi. They were all inconvenienced.
It was impossible to see the carnage right in front of you...
It took me time to overcome this shock. It all happened right in front of me. There is no way I could describe my feelings. I could not even watch. Any way our blog does not write what you must have already read in the newspapers and seen on TV etc. The whole thing has been sordid and such a huge tragedy.
The living without limbs is more difficult...
My heart goes out to all those killed and more for those injured. They have to live with the injuries, disfigurement and loss of limbs etc. I wish I could do something for them. I am at my own level.
Is media scared of the PPP? Why don't you speak the truth?
We are going to talk about things the media has ignored either deliberately, under threat or bribe, I do not know. But the fact remains, media in Pakistan does show restraint when it comes to Benazir and PPP while their guns go blazing against the President. They are so brave against him. That is very good. But why are you so one sided? Be brave against the PPP too. Particularly Geo - Kamran Khan, ARY - Kashif Abbasi, Aaj, Dr. Danish in TVOne are all guilty of fear. Why don't you speak the truth?
Benazir's accusations are not well founded...
Benazir should know she was not in Dubai but Karachi where power cuts is a daily phenomenon. She complains of lights going off at dusk. A very shallow accusation. At 12:00 midnight she was not supposed to be there. Why did she not adhere to a program? At that time, after all her program, she was supposed to have been at home. The conditions were definitely not good, why did you hang on there at great risk. You escaped but the poor died.
Had you stuck to a program you could have saved lives and the suffering of poor...
You ought to have briefly made a presence on the road, gone straight to Mazar-e-Qaed made your passionate address, made your point, pleased your followers and gone home comfortably. Instead you chose the "Tamasha" fanfare. Your truck was just not able to move. When could you have reached the place, made the address and gone home? What was the program? The more time you were on the road the people were so much at risk. Had you cared for the poor, their suffering for the past three days, you would not have done this.
According to experts there were no more than 100,000 people...
One wonders how many people were there? Benazir says 30,00,000. Did she calculate? No. Just an idea. It is not too difficult to calculate. Just count the busses that arrived from the interior, count trucks, cars or whatever mode of transport. I am a media man and a marketing man I can easily estimate. As a marketing man, figures are most important, I can very roughly calculate the number of people present. As a media man I know how a few can be shown to be many. All TV personnel will testify to this. There were no more than 75,000 to 100,000 people.
The poor PPP supporters had no transport to go back nor were they paid...
What is the plight of those that were brought in by PPP leaders from interior villages and small and big towns. They were promised money. Lots of them have complained that they have been left high and dry on the streets and did not even have the transport to go back and did not have money to go by public transport. They were obliged to borrow money from locals in Karachi to go back. So much for the poor the lady talks about.

Don't forget you have failed not once but twice and twice you have been removed on charges of corruption and misrule. Your party members call you "Mothorama" meaning respected. Surprisingly media follows suit as if it is some official title. But can you call one who is accused of such rampant corruption as respected?

P.S.
There is a perception in political circles that this sordid carnage, if any thing, has only helped Benazir. Sympathy has grown, increased her vote bank while herself and the top PPP leadership has come out unscathed. The propounders of conspiracy theories see a lot of planning in it and think every thing has gone exactly as per plan. Just ten minutes before she was moved to safety. The blast was just far enough not to cause casualty to the leadership. Some people see conspiracy in this although the author does not contribute to conspiracy theories.

Do come back but don't blow up a God given chance yet again...

Miracle - yes but this time no fooling the innocent people please...
Allah has been so kind on you. I agree with you that it is a miracle. It indeed is. You are given yet another chance to lead. Now for God's sake don't blow it up. The government has helped you in so many different ways. People have come out in large numbers to greet you - whether hired or genuine is immaterial. But please do not fool around this time.

Do something for the people who love you. You talk of poor. But don't let poverty be their permanent destiny. If you mean to remove poverty then you have to start with land reforms. Are you prepared to address agricultural land reforms? You have to introduce land ceiling for which Pakistan is late by 60 years. You have to give up your lands. Feudalism will go. This will be like truely helping the poor. Are you ready to give that sacrifice so that it helps the poor in rural areas?

People say you will give them jobs. But how will you? Will merit will have a place? Will employment be generated by increasing employment by giving land to the landless, putting up industries and services or are you just going to appoint four instead of one in a job, thereby killing a thriving organisation. If you do that you will kill the economy. Expand opportunity, expand economy don't overload an existing opportunity.

If you are coming with a clear vision it is fine otherwise you will only be fooling the nation. Twice you have been removed for corruption and mismanagement. This time don't go down as the wife of a corrupt man. Now for God's sake let it not repeat. I wish the best for Pakistan and us including you.