What He Said (And Leaked Beforehand)

For the last five or six days I had been contemplating how best to present the information contained on a website that someone had stumbled upon and forwarded to me. Not because one did not believe the authenticity of the information on it but because it left unanswered a number of questions. Not least of which was who was behind the website and to what end. I could make a fairly straightforward and educated guess about the persons behind the site even though the site's owners had chosen to disguise their ownership while registering it.

Zulfiqar Mirza swears on the Quran (Photo: PPI)

After today's "atom bomb" presser by the redoubtable former Sindh Home Minister / PPP Senior Vice President / Sindh MPA Zulfiqar Mirza, I think it is quite obvious who is behind the site.

The site of course is the imaginatively titled terroristleaks.com and contains pretty much all the information Mr Mirza spoke about and brandished in his presser today.

Not only does it have the facsimiles of the "secret" reports of the Joint Investigation Teams (JIT) on arrested target-killers (all of them allegedly connected to the MQM) in Karachi, it also contains the video-ed professional interrogations of some of them, such as the notorious Ajmal Pahari...




Who else would have had access to this highly classified information and have the motive and the guts to "leak" it on the net. Not a bureaucrat or policeman who feared the wrath of the government for disclosing official info, that's for sure.

These confessional statements make for fascinating (and of course chilling) reading and watching no doubt. And they also provide an insight into the mindsets of professional killers as well as those who control them. There is plenty here to damn the MQM's top leadership. But without, in any way, trying to sound like I am defending the indefensible, one must add a couple of caveats about the information contained here.

For one, keep in mind that this website does present only a selective version of the truth. The only information leaked here is of those terrorists alleged to be part of the MQM. Yes, the MQM's hit squad is apparently the most well-organized, most feared and most talked about. But in recent years the PPP, Sunni Tehrik and the ANP have also managed to cultivate their own nexus with the mercenary underworld (which Zulfiqar Mirza brushed off as "tit-for-tat" in answer to a question on Geo's Capital Talk tonight). And let's also not forget the hit squads of outlawed organizations such as the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and the Sipahe Sahaba (which have links with other legitimate political parties), the MQM-Haqiqi faction, and on a different level, state-controlled institutions such as the police and intelligence agencies themselves. We do know that at least some of those killers are also in custody. Why is that information not here on the website? Does that justify the MQM's killers? No, not at all. But reading the lawlessness of Karachi without factoring in the political and economic turf wars which breed it or understanding how various communities perceive and react to the state would be slightly simplistic and even perhaps dangerously naive.

Secondly, purely from a legal (i.e. not moral) point of view, these documents and confessions do not necessarily establish guilt. They have yet to be proven in a court of law. We may choose to believe them (or not believe them) but they have the same legal position as, say NAB's accusations of corruption against Mr Asif Zardari. That is not to say that they are not true, just that one's belief in their authenticity does not equal legal proof for conviction.

Of course, as pointed out by a number of people already, this information and Zulfiqar Mirza's press conference also begs the question why, if this information was available with the government, have these terrorists not yet been prosecuted in the courts of law. If, as Mr Mirza claims, witnesses crucial to the prosecution are being eliminated, is it not the government's responsibility to protect them?

But even bigger questions hang over the whole drama today. Who benefits from this rhetoric and these disclosures at this time? Is it a mere coincidence that what occupied Pakistanis' entire evening came on the same day that the Rangers claimed to have unearthed ammunition stockpiles and torture cells in Lyari raids, and managed to push that news off the news channels?  On the face of it, Zulfiqar Mirza may be claiming that his newly awakened conscience dictated today's "straight-talk", but has he not also driven a stake through the heart of his close friend and "benefactor" President Zardari's political manoeuvrings for the PPP's future? For weren't what Federal Interior Minister Mr Rehman Malik (the target of Mr Mirza's wrath) and current Sindh Home Minister Mr Manzoor Wassan doing to keep the MQM on board part of Mr Zardari's strategy?

Mr Mirza may also have wrested the initiative from Sindhi nationalists who had been chipping away at the PPP in Sindh after the party's U-turn on the Commissionerate system. But would that really help the PPP if Zulfiqar Mirza is considered to be at odds with the party leadership? And was there something more to Mr Mirza's fullsome praise for the ISI and military than meets the eye? Who benefits if the PPP government at the centre comes under strain?

I confess I do not have the answers to these questions. At least answers that make immediate sense to me. If someone has a coherent explanation, I would love to hear it.

Phet: What The Papers (Almost) Said

In the face of massive public demand (well, two flattering comments on Cafe Pyala and some faint, barely audible praise overheard at a party), I have decided to massage my massive but fragile ego a bit and re-post as a proper post what I had earlier put up as a comment in XYZ's Phet post. However, being innately generous, I have decided to add some new material to my old comments for the pleasure of my two admirers out there in cyberland. So those fortunate enough to have read my original post skip the first part.

To recap, the original post tucked away in the comments section went like this:

How would our leading English papers report cyclone Phet if it hits Pakistan?

Dawn: Cyclone causes devastation in Sindh, Balochistan; many dead, missing in coastal areas; Zardari, Asma Jahangir, Belgian PM condole;

The News: Is Zardari behind cyclone devastation? Justice Iftikhar's warnings repeatedly ignored; NRO-beneficiaries rejoice as people suffer; Geo first to report calamity

Daily Times: Taseer shocked at cyclone horror in Sindh, Balochistan; PPP rises to the challenge as Nawaz flies off to London; Rana Sanaullah denies Taliban hand; New Hamid Mir recording suggests links; Sarah Taseer Shoaib shuts jewellery outlet for a day in mourning; Puchu's birthday party postponed; US think-tank calls on Pakistan to do more

Express Tribune: DHA suffers calamity as cyclone strikes several phases; panic stations as phet of many drivers, maasis, chowkidaars unknown; tweeters, bloggers and facebookers lose contact with rest of world; hundreds die in far-flung Keamari, Neelum and Shireen Jinnah colonies; colourful-but-deprived fishing villages fear further blow to child rights; Grammar School reunion cancelled

The Nation: Storm destabilises Sindh, Balochistan as Indian, Blackwater conspiracy bears fruit; hundreds die but nuclear assets safe from Hindu and Jewish incursions; Kayani, Hamid Gul shocked; Nawaz would cut short London visit if Kulsoom were better; Nazriya-e-Pakistan, Majid Nizami safe

A bit wet after Phet (source: Boston Globe/ AP)

OK. Now how did the same papers cover the event when it became a non-event, for Karachi at least?

Dawn: Cyclone spares Karachi but causes havoc in Sindh, Balochistan; PM happy for Karachi, on the one hand, sad for rest of province, Balochistan, on the other; Asma escapes catastrophe due to New Delhi seminar engagement; Belgian PM too busy to give Shada Islam reaction

The News: Iftikhar's suo moto action saved Karachi, says Qazi Anwar; only NRO-beneficiaries harmed in freak cyclone: Ansar Abbasi; Why did Zardari's frontman go into the cyclone shelter business in Thatta, Gwadar last month?; Was the cyclone hoax hatched to avoid negative budget reaction, asks Akram Shaikh; Geo first channel to cancel cyclone coverage from Karachi

Daily Times: Taseer says PPP government changed course of cyclone to attract foreign investment to Karachi; US says government should do more for Sindh, Balochistan victims by launching operation in North Waziristan; Taseer challenges Shahbaz to wade through filthy water in Badin; Shahbaz leaves for London to see Kulsoom, sends Rana Sanaullah instead; Sara Taseer reopens jewellery shop but donates a day's takings to Puchu's Balochistan victims' charity ball; Sunday, GT, Business Plus win exclusive rights for coverage of Puchu's event

Express Tribune: Phase V bloggers reunite with Phase VI counterparts after traumatic night of separation; massive relief in DHA, Clifton as cyclone avoids Bayview school, Agha's supermarket; tweeters launch campaign to locate missing Sindhi/Baloch maasis through GPS; absence of Espresso waiters causes immense hardship for customers; Phet of Hawke's Bay huts still worries many bankers; Bad road manners, poor civic sense, pathetic displays of social irresponsibility observed as revelling post-cyclone outsiders flood into Seaview; Thousands feared dead somewhere beyond Kala Pul

The Nation: Badin, Thatta drowning in Black Water, RAW sewage; Indo-US cyclone plot foiled due to Pak Navy's heroic action on high seas; Timely publication of photographs of suspicious foreigners may have deterred storm from destroying Pak financial capital; Hindu, Jewish bankers dismayed; Separatists suffer heavy losses in Balochistan, Sindh, FC men safe;  Nukes, Majid Nizami, Nazriya-e-Pakistan, AQ Khan saved yet again; Shireen Mazari safe too. Pakistan Zindabad!

Qaim and Punishment

What is the first word that comes to mind when Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah is mentioned? Soft-spoken? Mild-mannered? Ineffectual? Weak? All of the above? Well, think again. How about unduly harsh? Or a bit extreme? Or Sindh's Man of Steel? Surely not!
Well, read Dawn's front page coverage of the Sindh budget and you will see a side to the man that no one thought existed. (Then again, maybe it doesn't, as Dawn refers to the gentleman presenting the budget as 'Qasim' Ali Shah in the very first para. So perhaps someone else read out the budget speech and no one noticed).

Tucked away right at the end after all the dreary figures and statistics is a line that literally leaps off the page. It states:

"He also proposed death penalty for driving a vehicle without registration, prevent default and reduce the misuse of unregistered vehicles in crimes."

Let's not quibble with the grammar or construction here but do notice the harshness of the penalty. Death for not getting your car registered?!!! The Taliban would be proud of meek old Qaim, don't you think? No wonder Altaf bhai is freaking out at the Taliban at our gates.
Will we now be flogged publicly by the bank clerk if we pay our gas bill after the due date? Or beheaded for jumping the queue at Agha's?

Come to think of it, my secret inner Taliban does sometimes want horrible things to happen to certain types of people - especially those with four-wheel drives with tinted windows, party flags and no number plates that park wherever they please. Of course, I wouldn't hurt a fly in real life but what's the harm in fantasising a bit?

So who would you secretly (and purely in theory, of course) like to instantly get their comeuppance? Motorcyclists who believe traffic signals are just quaint bits of street furniture? Or the jerk of a bank clerk who prefers to chat to his colleagues even as the queue in front of his till is on the verge of rioting? Or the idiot trying to text a love letter while driving in front of you and blocking all the lanes?