Anas Imtiaz

In The Aftermath Of Lahore Shootout

// March 5th, 2009 // 9 Comments » // Pakistan

I couldn’t muster the strength to express my feelings yesterday following the Lahore attacks. I felt absolutely terrible after looking at the images of the bodies of poor policemen who sacrificed their lives to save the Sri Lankan cricketers. I was disappointed, angered and terrified. I still am. These policemen and the driver deserve to be saluted for showing the derring-do at a time of chaos and terror.

Now that almost 2 days have passed since the incident the people of Pakistan deserve to know who are responsible for killing the sport of cricket in Pakistan. Immediately after absorbing the news I expected the two mainstream political parties to try and win points over this incident. The Lanka-Pak match was called off, but another new match had already started. I will talk about the political side later but first I’d like to commend the Sri Lankan team for their cool response to such an enormous attack of terror. They remained calm with Sangakkara going to the extent of saying he had no regrets coming to Pakistan. While the Sri Lankan players demonstrated a magnanimous response, some other cricketing captains who were not even involved in the incident chipped in with disappointing comments. No surprises as the FM of the neighbouring country came out in the media, and instead of expressing grief, used the opportunity to blast Pakistan. Again, I don’t blame him, but it was disappointing.

There were some hints of foreign hand expressed in non-official statements. But what exactly is the official statement? Assume, for a minute, it was India who was behind the attacks, or any other country/organization for that matter. Where was the law-enforcing agency? What is the job of Interior Ministry? Wasn’t the SL team promised presidential-level security? Does the president travel like this? Obviously, if there is an impending attack, it is our country’s job to stop it. If the relevant department fails, it should accept the responsibility? And how many times will this department fail? In September, the same department failed to prevent Marriott attacks, and no one was tried or brought to justice. I did plead for the resignation of Interior Minister at that time, and I do so again. Isn’t it time to accept the responsibility now and step aside? If not now, then when? (more…)

Pakistan Cricket Suffers Another Blow By BCCI

// December 20th, 2008 // 15 Comments » // Sports

Its getting hot in South Asia!

// November 30th, 2008 // 19 Comments » // Pakistan

Blaming Pakistan, directly or indirectly, for the terrorist attacks in India is nothing new and not something to become a cause of concern. Similarly, blames have been directed from Islamabad for the unrest in Pakistan, and it is as banal as waking up in the morning.

The major contributor this time in the escalation of tensions is the Indian media and the government of Pakistan, to an extent.

Analysing the situation that emerged immediately after the deadly attacks, the Indian PM and army hastily labelled Pakistan as the culprit. Now this was expected for some reasons:

1) Governments are always wary of the public sentiment and what better way to diverge attention by blaming it on archrivals?

2) Elections are approaching in India and the Congress is being portrayed by the BJP as overly firendly towards Pakistan. So this can easily benefit the Congress politically. (Politicians will NEVER miss an opportunity to gain)

3) The unrest and the known presence of terrorists in Pakistan can easily explain the influx from Pakistan and hence hides the fact (as some analysts say) that Islamic extremism is growing in India (for whatever reasons).

4) The failure of intelligence agencies to uncover the attacks can also be hidden by taking a tough stance against Pakistan.

The Indian media went to great lengths in claiming that India possesses solid proofs against Pakistan which can’t be denied. There have even been talks of potential battles and cutting off diplomatic ties. Were these confidence building measures in the previous years so shallow? I do think so!

The government of Pakistan loves to be good to everyone. So when the distressed PM of India requested our PM to send the DG ISI, Gilani immediately agreed, without even thinking the implications of such an action in a country ruled exclusiuvely by the army. Manmohan Singh was blaming the ISI, which the dummy PM of Pakistan didn’t even realise!

Even if the Pakistani PM made this decision as a gesture of goodwill, the news that came out was that “ISI chief summoned to India.” What does that sound like?

When the decision was reversed, probably after Mukherjee used some strong language, the obvious news was that “Pakistan U-turns on ISI commitment.” So that almost looks like accepting the blame. There are certain diplomatic norms of handling such situations and clearly the newly (not so new) elected government is unaware of them.

Temperatures have already gone up. The deciding factor may, as always, turn out to be US intervention. Indian government can benefit from the escalating tensions but this will force Pakistan to move its troops from Afghan border to the Indian border which the ISI has already mentioned. This can hurt US’s war against terror. Barack Obama may be the one person wondering the most at the moment. He will be having some tough jobs ahead. Similarly, Zaradri’s presidency will also face a tough test of character.

Meanwhile, the next 2 or 3 days will be very crucial. I hope the two countries learn to live with peace and harmony.

4th July 1999: When We Surrendered…

// July 4th, 2008 // 2 Comments » // Pakistan

This is the continuation of the excerpts from Bruce Reidel’s policy papers which gives the intricate details of the abrupt pullback of the Pakistani forces from Kargil. This happened on the 4th of July, 1999, the U.S. Independece Day, or the day when our PM compromised our independence. Make sure you’ve read the earlier part of this to understand the desperate conditions in which the following took place.

THE 4TH DAWNS

The President’s advisers gathered early on the 4th to brief him on the meeting ahead and provide advice. The mood was somber. Sandy Berger opened the session by telling the President that this could be the most important foreign policy meeting of his Presidency because the stakes could include nuclear war. He had to press Sharif to withdraw while also giving him enough cover to keep him in office to deliver the retreat. Strobe noted the importance of being very clear with Nawaz and not letting the Prime Minister be alone with the President so that he could later claim commitments not made. A record of who said what was critical. Rick and I briefed the President on the latest information we had.

There was more disturbing information about Pakistan preparing its nuclear arsenal for possible use. I recommended that he use this only when Sharif was without his aides, particularly not when the Foreign Secretary, Shamshad Ahmad, who was known to be very close to Pakistani military intelligence (ISI) was in earshot.

Bandar called and told me the results of his discussion with Sharif. The PM was distraught, deeply worried about the direction the crisis was going toward disaster, but equally worried about his own hold on power and the threat from his military chiefs who were pressing for a tough stand. I briefed the President and the team. He said he was ready to go and we crossed Pennsylvania Avenue to Blair House. Sharif had a couple of hours to rest and refresh himself since his arrival early in the morning. The President’s meeting opened at around 1:30 in the afternoon with a plenary session with their teams. The President began by noting he had to travel on the 5th to America’s poorest states, a long planned event to help eradicate poverty in America and thus was glad the PM could be available on the 4th. He then framed the day’s discussion by handing the PM a cartoon from the day’s Chicago Tribune newspaper that showed Pakistan and India as nuclear bombs fighting with each other. Clinton said this is what worried him.

Sharif opened by thanking the President for resolving the long outstanding quarrel between the two countries over the suspended delivery of F16 fighters — suspended when sanctions were imposed in 1990. Clinton had secured a sizable cash payment to Pakistan that compensated Islamabad for the cost of the never delivered fighters.

Sharif then went into a long and predictable defense of the Kashmiri cause. He appealed to the President to intervene directly to settle the dispute by pressing India. Much of his argumentation we had heard before — only the U.S. could save a billion and a half South Asians from war, if only the President would devote 1% of the effort he gave to the Arab-Israeli dispute to Kashmir it would be resolved, etc. The President pushed back by reminding Sharif that the U.S. played a role in the Arab-Israeli conflict because both sides invited it to mediate, that is not the case with Kashmir. The best approach was the road begun at Lahore, that is direct contact with India. Pakistan had completely undermined that opening by attacking at Kargil, it must now retreat before disaster set in.

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