Pakistanism No. 5

'We won’t allow anyone to criticise Pakistan, the integrity of Pakistan and the institution of the armed forces as it is enshrined in the constitution,' said the minister of information, Ali Durrani, while addressing the Pakistani media.

And for good measure he threw in the following:

'Pakistan and the armed forces, which are responsible for the protection of Pakistan, are beyond criticism.'

Pakistanism No. 4

Pakistanism No. 4

On the government's refusal to pass on the benefits of lower fuel prices to consumers:

Azeem (State Minister for Information and Broadcasting) said that between May 2004 and October 2006, the government froze prices for 26 months, allowing partial increases only eight times.

Pakistanism No. 3

Unlucky seven

Seven years. Seven points. Decide for yourself.

Pervez Hoodbhoy, the brave and passionate Pakistani activist, in a stinging op-ed column in Dawn wrote:

Like the other insecure governments before it, both military and civilian, the present regime also has a single-point agenda: to stay in power at all costs. It, therefore, does whatever it must and Pakistan moves further away from any prospect of acquiring modern values, and of building and strengthening democratic institutions.

Dr Hoodbhoy concluded:

Musharraf and his generals are determined to stay in power. They will protect the source of their power -- the army. They will accommodate those they must -- the Americans. They will pander to the mullahs. They will crush those who threaten their power and privilege, and ignore the rest. No price is too high for them. They are the reason why Pakistan fails.

One man's boast is another's nightmare

Gen Musharraf bragged in his memoir that Pakistan received millions of dollars for delivering suspected terrorists into American hands. The resulting furore caused him to issue a clumsy denial, but the essence of the claim remains: Pakistan has handed over many hundreds of alleged terrorist to the Americans.

Moazzam Begg was one of the men handed over; he was innocent and was released from Guantanamo bay without any charges after three years in captivity. His story is a sobering reminder that many ordinary Pakistanis have been tortured and maimed in the name of the 'war on terror'.

Pakistanism No. 3

"Law enforcement personnel rushed to the site and took the rockets into custody," according to The News in report on the latest plot to kill Musharraf.

No word yet on whether the police have tortured the rockets or forced them to sign a confession.

The irony is that the same edition of The News also carried a piece by Shaheen Sehbai lambasting Simon & Schuster for grammatical errors in 'In the Line of Fire'.

Pakistanism No. 2

Sifting through the bombast

He came, he saw, he conquered. Well, not quite. The New York Times has published refutations of claims made by Musharraf in his speech at the Council of Foreign Relations. This is no 'he said, she said' stuff; the Times has pounced on factual errors made by Musharraf.