President Musharraf has declared a state of emergency in Pakistan. According to news sources, among other things this means “The Fundamental Rights of the citizens are now suspended. All the news channels have been taken off air and mobile phone signals and Internet connections jammed.”.
A thriving discussion at All Things Pakistan gives us a glimpse of what the reactions in the blogosphere are like.
The Pakistan Policy Blog states that the army has taken control of the Supreme Court, surrounded the buildings of major news stations, and arrested or detained many politicians. The blog comments on the proclamation text.
In his proclamation of emergency (full text below), Musharraf — identifying himself as chief of army staff, not president — cites the rising violence in the country as the basis for his imposing martial law. However, the text holds the judiciary most culpable for the rise in violence. It lambastes them for allegedly encroaching upon the territory of the legislative and executive branches, stating, “Whereas some members of the judiciary are working at cross purposes with the executive and legislature in the fight against terrorism and extremism, thereby weakening the government and the nation’s resolve and diluting the efficacy of its actions to control this menace.”
RedDiaryPk writes on what this confirms - the intentions of the current regime and the consequences of a military rule.
The blatantly off-handed, treasonous, and unconstitutional attacks by General Pervez Musharraf on the judiciary, media, and people of Pakistan have brought the true dictatorial character of the present regime into the lime-light. It has now been proved beyond doubt that Pakistan can never progress into any form of democracy without getting rid of the military from politics. All attempts to enter into any ‘compromise’ or ‘deal’ with the military can only hinder the struggle for democracy.
SAJA Forum is running some comments on the post, including - “They say on Indian TV that this is more than a state of emergency. It is declaration of martial law because the country's constitution has been nullified.”. Some others confirm that news channels are off the air in the country.
Chapati Mystery on what the state of Emergency means.
Next up? Martial Law. More bombings. And the eventual drain of all that capital that had accumulated in the country in the past 8 years. Zimbabwe, here we come. Unless, US and China can come to their senses and do some actual diplomacy. The status is bleak. Let us say that Musharraf resigns and leaves. The Supreme Court declares an election date, the new government solves the Baluchistan issue, th US redeploys significant troops to Afghanistan (and keeps them there), the Pakistani military combats within cities and mountains of Pakistan. War. Chaos. Uncertainty. And this, my gentle readers, would be the best case scenario. A more likely option is a military state somewhere between Mugabe’s Zimbabwe circa 2005 and Gandhi’s India circa 1976. I must be proven wrong.
Comments and discussion at Metroblogging Lahore, Pickled Politics and Metroblogging Islamabad. KO writes on what it is like to “return to dictatorship”.
This is a bit of a oxymoron. Pakistan has been run by a military dictator for the last 8 years, but the dictator kept some of the trappings of democracy around, like a free press, an opposition, of not just politicians but private armies belonging to anyone who cared, like the Taliban, roaming around the country, and so on.
Over at Comment Is Free, Ali Eteraz writes on the context of the emergency.
Traditionally, a PCO is an order which suspends the constitution and dissolves all fundamental rights as well as legislation and judiciary, installing martial law. Except that Musharraf's PCO only dissolves the judiciary (for overstepping its limits and interfering with the war on terror) while leaving the Assembly intact. The limited scope of the PCO means the current situation is something less than martial law. Yet it cannot rightly be called an emergency either, because that does not involve a PCO. This in-between situation is being called “emergency plus”.
And yes, it's time for the Society Against Internet Censorship in Pakistan to be active again. Dr Awab Alvi sets the ball rolling by suggesting that international bloggers be given the right to blog on their behalf.
I think it's time that all Pakistan based bloggers should stop blogging and be careful since it's being confirmed that martial law is in effect we all have to play it safe - hand over reigns to international reporters and bloggers to help report - we cannot risk it here.
As an example I have handed over my blog posting rights to a free speech
activist Ange Embuldeniya and will start live reportingI know how much we want to report but please this is a MARTIAL LAW.
The international blog community is at the moment rallying for Pakistan and
we should hear sounds from them very soon.
Awab Alvi's blog, being run by Ange currently can be found here, with regular updates on the situation.
Send this by E-mail
Teeth MaestroLatest of 1 posts
Geoffrey CainLatest of 4 posts
LyndonLatest of 9 posts
Preetam RaiLatest of 1605 posts
Javits RajendranLatest of 7 posts
Margarete HurnLatest of 1 posts
.hj barrazaLatest of 4 posts
Fozia MohamedLatest of 30 posts
Pipper LeeLatest of 11 posts
Miquel Hudin BalsaLatest of 3 posts
Nash SuleimanLatest of 12 posts
Filip StojanovskiLatest of 8 posts
Nice round-up Neha.
“The Fundamental Rights of the citizens are now suspended. All the news channels have been taken off air and mobile phone signals and Internet connections jammed” - All Things Pakistan posts reactions from around the Blogosphere. Global Voices offers Pakistan: Emergency Declared - No News, No Internet.
Pingback: “The Fundamental Rights of the citizens are now suspended. All the news channels have been taken off air and mobile phone signals and Internet connections jammed” - All Things Pakistan posts reactions from around the Blogosphere. Global Voices offers Pakistan: Emergency Declared - No News, No Internet.
http://dave-lucas.blogspot.com/2007/11/in-formation.html
As far as I know, He is the only leader who can be trusted. Democracy in Pakistan means forcely voted parliamentarians who are corrupt. I rather prefer someone who is a Dictator but actually cares about the country’s interest.
You guys should also check this link out:
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/ali_eteraz/2007/11/musharrafs_mini_martial_law.html
It will be interesting to see how the Paki blogospare will react….
Global Voices Online » Pakistan: Emergency Declared - No News, No Internet.: A thriving discussion at All Things Pakistan gives us a glimpse of what the reactions in the blogosphere are like….
In Tobasco
Right now
Everything’s in a fiasco in Tobasco.
Right now
There’s no tobacco in Tobasco.
Right now
No one goes to Tobasco’s discos.
Right now
Time stops and from the housetops
Voices shout and yelp for help.
Right now
Everyone fears the rain, which–again–
Has shown its clout.
But flood or drought,
The looters are out:
They don’t care of what the flood’s made,
They loot even food aid.
And that’s the Man we are:
We cry when the fire is near
And laugh when we are afar.
Right now
The Taleban thrive in Pakistan.
They strive to drive everyone mad in Islamabad.
But Benazir and Perviz
Buzz like flies and hum like bees,
Each cries for a better Pakistan.
You’ve got to impose Martial Law
If you wanna hope for a prize
From Oslo.
But that’s the Man we are:
We cry when the fire is near
And laugh when we are afar.
Hi i hope things get back to normal and we can live peacefully our daily lives in Pakistan and the emergency ends.Thats my personal point of view as a common man living in Pakistan.
[...] The roundup of Pakistani blogsphere written by Neha at Global voices online can be found here. [...]
Musharraf is a self-serving and cunning man is an acknowledged fact. He is willing to stoop down to any level, strike any deal, connive with anybody, kill and jail whomsoever he feels threatened with and trample the rule of the land with impunity to be in power.
He refuses to see beyond his self interest. The good of Pakistan or its people is the last thing in his mind.
History teaches us that dictators meet a sad end. Mush’s fate is sealed and his end is near.
Good summary - Dr. Awab is doing the right things, others should also find creative ways to keep blogging.
[...] he said, and as his own prime minister said, “definitely extraconstitutional.” Global Voices Online has a roundup of online reactions; the blog Teeth Maestro, established by a Pakistani gentleman I [...]
[...] Artikel erschien zuerst auf Global Voices. Die Übersetzung erfolgte durch Clemens Harten, Teil des Project Lingua“. Die [...]
[...] the “state of emergency” declared by Pervez Musharaf in Pakistan, commentators in the US are asking the sorts of [...]
It is amazing how the US does not fight a single battle at home but routinely fight proxy wars with those that threaten in lands far away. They are the ones who supported Musharraf and surely knew enough to realize that he, in purported national and self-interest stops well short of being a stooge. The US were the ones to create the Islamic jehadist monster through its arming of the Mullahs in Afghanistan. Their support for the corrupt regimes in Saudi and Kuwait is a disgrace. THe lesser said about Iraq, the better. Even in Iraq, I am sure that the size of the US military contingent is not the largest. Unless the US stops using money to export trouble to already troubled parts of the globe, things are going to slide irrevocably into chaos and anarchy. And this too, as has historically been the case, will turn around and bite the US in its ass. Which might just be the only good thing to come out ofthis whole sordid saga.
[...] try Metroblogging Karachi, The Guardian’s running Emergency rule in Pakistan, the fascinating Global Voices, and — as always — Juan Cole and his group blog Global Affairs, where this [...]
SPARC strongly condemned the evacuation of Juveniles offenders from Borstal Jail Bahawalpur:
Ongoing emergency has not only affected the common people but Juvenile inmates confined in Borstal Bahawalpur also fell a victim to this situation. There were eighty Juvenile Inmates confined in the Borstal who are being shifted to the Central Jail Bahawqalpur so that Borstal could be used for confining Lawyers arrested from different Districts of Punjab on taking part in agitation against government. In Central Jail, no juvenile’s lockups exist. So for more than one hundred Lawyers has been transported to Borstal Bahawalpur for their confinement. The juveniles will be forced to live with adults prisoners and they will be badly affected. Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) condemns this situation and demand for release of all children and lawyers and probe authorities for the captivity of the rights of those children. SPARC strongly criticizes the state of emergency and calls it unconstitutional and illegal.
[...] Policy Institute. Today, some of the people who sang to me might be under arrest in the wake of President Pervez Musharraf’s declaration of virtual martial law in [...]
im from new zealand we have a women pm i fell sorry for you people militery rule al quida bush sticking his nose in now buotto killed saying she hit here head what a load of shit she was murdered simple now what