Opinion Printline pakistan

The News predicted the ramifications of the WikiLeaks in an editorial on November 30: “An Arctic chill may descend on our relations with Saudi Arabia as a result,or maybe not,given our rulers’ dependence on the representatives of the kingdom in matters not just financial but also those that affect their rise and fall as politicians.” An article in Dawn on November 1 argued: “There has always been… dismay in Pakistan about… US interference in the country’s internal matters. But… WikiLeaks has laid bare the extent of the interference… More shocking are revelations about how much leverage the Americans were being given by the country’s civilian and military leadership to micro-manage domestic politics.”

At a time when most public figures in Pakistan are facing brickbats,Imran Khan was hailed as a rare exception,reported The News on December 2 in an article titled ‘Tall among pygmies’. It stated: “While all others have been shown by the WikiLeaks as pygmies and dwarves,Imran Khan has emerged as the only exception amongst the lot. Pakistani politicians… have been proving their loyalty to the Americans whereas Imran Khan criticised ‘dangerous’ US policy.”Meanwhile,a petition was filed in the Lahore high court seeking a ban on the WikiLeaks website,reported Dawn on December 3. Arif Gondal,the petitioner,argued that this would harm Pakistan’s relations with other countries. The court quashed the petition stating calling it “non-maintainable.” Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed was quoted as saying: “We must bear the truth,no matter how harmful it is…”

Dawn reported on December 3: “The meeting of the DCC,the highest defence policy-making body after the federal cabinet,will be held… under PM Yousuf Raza Gilani. It will be attended by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee,the three services chiefs,the ministers of foreign affairs and defence and a couple of other ministers. The WikiLeaks expose has not been cited as an item on the agenda and officially it is meant to discuss Gilani’s forthcoming visit to Kabul and nuclear and other related issues…”

Army revamp

Pakistan’s army is in for a major overhaul,says a detailed report in The News on December 1: “Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani has introduced major reforms in the Pakistan army despite many financial problems,with a major shift in the profile of (those) who will be recruited more than others. The army has started decreasing the number of Punjabis and Pashtuns in fresh recruitments and adopted the policy of encouraging Baloch,Sindhis and religious minorities for making an ethnic balance.” The piece quantified the ethnic composition of the army as — Punjabis 55.82 per cent,Pakhtuns 15.42 per cent,Baloch 2.34 per cent,Sindhis 15.09 per cent,Azad Kashmir/Gilgit-Baltistan (PoK): 8.48 per cent,non-Muslims: 0.43 per cent. It also mentioned that Kayani had set a target of decreasing the number of Punjabis to 54.50 per cent,Pashtuns to 14.50 per cent,while the number of Baloch will increase to 4 per cent,Sindhis 17 per cent and recruits from Azad Kashmir/Gilgit-Baltistan (PoK) will increase to 9 per cent by 2011. The percentage of non-Muslims will be hiked to 1 per cent. The article mentions that “there is a sharp rise in the number of youngsters who applied for getting a commission in the Pakistan army in the last two years,which indicates that this institution improved its reputation in recent years.”

Aasia and Asif

Daily Timesreported on December 30 that the Lahore high court had barred President Asif Zardari from granting presidential pardon to Aasia Bibi,a Christian woman on death row on charges of blasphemy. A petition was filed by Shahid Iqbal,whose lawyer argued that “a pardon was illegal as the court was already hearing an appeal against her sentence. ‘We believe it is the court’s duty to evaluate the evidence against her,not individuals,and if she is found innocent,she should be freed,’ he said.”