So it goes

It's bedlam in cuckoo-land once again. The army is the inherited clock that grandpa handed down as a reminder of better times, when shit had to be taken in a hole, and if water wasn't at hand, green-leaves did the job what tissues do till now for the white-rascals.

Actually, that's not how it is. What really has happened is a 'State of Emergency' has been imposed in Pakistan. President General Master Musharraf believes that the only way to save the country is by imposing emergency and so it goes, as was Vonnegut's catch-phrase. But more about the true master later. Let's first have a bird-eye view of political developments at home.

While Pakistan had been simmering with political apathy for too long, when the Chief Justice of Pakistan was brought in the firing line, the lawyers went bonkers. That resulted in a prolonged confrontation, and the CJ was reinstated....and while trying to get re-instated, he too carried out a full-fledge paraded campaign which resulted in a lot of collateral damage. But we don't talk about collateral damage and I will continue the tradition due to inherited dogmatism.....or carnal sloth, as you consider fit.

So, the CJ was hearing cases agaisnt Mush's regime and had a fair idea of cutting him down to size. High-ranking generals and police officials from Islamabad were summonded to the courts and made answerable for their actions and consequently censured. The case of missing persons, more than 200 documented cases, were also opened and slowly, but surely, the details of their whereabouts were coming to light. Newton's third law of motion, every action having an equal and opposite reaction, was holding true and Mushie might not be getting back as good as he gave, but surely his honchos were.

However, its Mushie who weilds the axe and the rest are barren trees with auburn hair and orange leaves.....or So It Goes.

While all this was happening, bomb blasts were taking place regularly over the scattered land mass of Pakistan. Swat, once a tourist haven, has now become a terrorist hide-out. Taliban style banning of barber shops and bombing of video-stores have become more frequent in the regions of the North West Frontier Province. Clashes between armed forces and terrorists also increased in frequency. While a stand-off had been achieved between lawyers and generals and civilians and forces (though civilians can only be credited with sitting down....their general stance on all issues of note); and the need of the hour became toe-ing a tough-line against militant insurgents, which some claim, is the creation of the Pak Army & ISI and has now turned into a twelve-head hydra or the sapola of fables.....

Anyhow, Master Mush got really upset with all the developments and decided to impose a 'state of emergency'.......the Chief Justice was once again fired, the constitution was abrogated, fundamental rights usurped and a dictatorship in place.

The ire of Master Mush was directed wholeheartedly at the Judiciary, who were blamed for creating such a scenario that had brought the nation on the brink of disaster. All cable operators were asked to shut-down all news channel and the only channel in operation is the state-run PTV.......

The media-folks were also blamed for not being co-operative with the government and giving rise to dissent. The terrorist issue was already a thorn in teh butt. Basically, most of the things were going wrong, and if he allowed it to continue, that would mean, the 'nation would be committing suicide', and being a pious muslim and a responsible Pakistani, he couldn't see that happen.....and so it goes.

As expected, there were scattered protests. The Lawyers came out in full force and were met wtih full force and ended up with bloody heads and broken toes. Human Rights Commission of Pakistan members were rounded up. Political leaders were rounded up. Political activists were rounded up. The government claims 500 people are in temporary confinment but even eternal optimists can't refuse a number of 5000...while cynics claim that unmarked graves are already being dug.

As I mentioned earlier, with all channels off-air, PTV had a field day. The national channel has received a lot of slack for never measuring up to it's competition and being a failure ever since it's monopoly was removed and other channels were introduced. It was PTV's opportunity...to have a few laughs of it's own....however, tehy failed to put the ball into the empty net, so to speak. It's bland transmission continued and updates about the coutry's situation were given through tickers...that eternal line at the bottom of your tv screen that sometimes provides momentary respite.

But PTV had it's coup d'etat. An exclusive interview of Master Mush addressing the masses...that would be shown live the world over. PTV had the opportunity to make up for its failures. But Victor Hugo said, history repeats itself....sometimes as a farce, and that's what the speech and PTV coverage more seemed like.

My personal observation was that the initial frame included Master Mush, Master Jinnah's hanging portrait (homage to founding father is must) and the national flag. While Musharraf ambled, Master Jinnah was slowly zoomed out, and then the flag, leaving the focus only on Musharraf and showing some nervousness and sweat. But his nearly 40-minute monologue lived up to expectations and lacked anything of substance. And we all returned to watching football matches as sports channels weren't taken off-air.

But back to the political scenario, Master Mush also introduced a temporary constitution,
or PCO (provisional constitutional order) which sounds more like a martial law.

Out fo the 17 judges of the supreme court, 7 called it legal. All were put under house arrest. 4 of them took oath under the PCO and one of them was appointed as the new CJ and the rest assured of privileges beyond expectations....or so the envious man is led to believe. For finding favor with clinging dictators has its perks, too.

America has taken up a rather soft-tone....with Condi Rice being most vocal, but she's caught up with the Mid-East process and can be spared. (Which reminds me: Apparently, the latest meeting of Olmert and Abbas in Annapolis is going to come up with a definite plan of compromise, says Condi. Chuckles or skittles, anyone?)

However, unofficially, Master Mush's honchos have claimed, rather smugly, in American newspapers, that whatever the American's think of the act, they will always opt for stability instead of democracy, as that meets the needs of political expediency.

However, there has been some murmurs that American aid to Pakistan might be come off...which was quickly discredited, though one mission that was set to visit Pakistan has been suspended. But we Pakistanis don't like Americans interfering and they can go to hell, says the Mullah on the street. And death to Israel, too. Unfortunately, our clergy is unlike that raised in Buddhist temples and will never know the meaning of peaceful dissent. And Jemima Khan said that Benazir isn't Aun Sung Suu Kyi - which is equally valid.

I would like to add my bit, too. Our people are unlike any other, too. We lack political consciousness and personal will. In an attempt to gauge the dissenting pulse...which sometimes I feel within me, too...I made my way to the Karachi press club. Media-men from all around were gathered...discussing ways of making themselves heard. Some of them had just gotten beaten up for raising anti-Mush slogans.....and a few arrested as well.

When I reached, the first rights of passage had been administered...and people were cautious. They were trying to devise a plan...but getting to the point where plans startedd being devised took sometime, too. Finally, squatting on the grass, numerous voices were heard. The young girls were vocal, the aunties were scheming, while the boys made jokes and the old men passed cynical judgements on the state of affairs.

There was no agreement on the form of protest, with the eventuality being that the protesters who a few minutes back were willing to court arrest, trickled out like milk from syrupy leaves...neither nourishing nor ....anything else, unless you're a banana planter celebrating 100 years of solitude.

But it was decided that there will be another protest tomorrow...and we promised to show our faces. Maybe we will come in the line of fire, too, Master Mush style, get baton-charged and have some scars to compete against martyrs.

While emergency rule continues, so do breaking news. Everything is suddenly of ten-times the importance. Shaukat Aziz says elections might be delayed. Mushahid Hussain, another one of Master Mushs honchos, says that he advised against the imposition of emergency and it could only end in a catastrophe. Benazir is saying a lot of things but as teh channels are off air, it doesn't really matter how she tries to tap on the emotional aspects of those listening agape.

Rest is fine. But we are ignoring what's happening on the world front, but I will hopefully return tonight with a comprehensive analysis of the Italian mafia chief who has been arrested and the Leftists fighting for their rights in isolated positions in far-off Indian provinces and American defense secretary visiting China...or teh reacting from Vladimir Putin's visit to Tehran.

All things are worth the money....so it goes, said Vonnegut. I want to write his obituary, you know. And Master Mushs....and Benazirs, too.....so it goes.

Rest in Pieces...

I thought I would write an elegy for those unfortunate ones who lost their lives.......on October 18th, the day the Bibi of the East returned from her exile....but I couldn't decide to whom it should be addressed. The majority of the dead were supporters of the PPP....but surely, a lot of them had been paid to attend the rally. People who were just trying to earn their bread through creative endeavor. Splintered people with divided loyalties....and now bodies, too. Then there were the party members holding various posts.....senior members now that they are dead. Some curious onlookers even. Now distorted beyond recoginition.

It was the biggest rally that the city has seen for sometime. There have been 'million marchs' before, but they never made it to a hundred thousand. BB probably had half a million show up on the roads to greet her - mostly paid maybe - but still it was a great show of strength for a party that has managed to thoroughly discredit itself at every opportunity.

Marx said religion is the opiate of the masses. Milan Kundera thinks its hope.....atleast in 'The Joke'. From the look of things, in my country, both are true...and maybe a few others, too. Not hinting towards the pitiable evolutionary track that the mashra treads upon, just on how things stand.

Why else would people put so much stock in out-dated slogans. 'Roti, Kapra aur Makan' - (Food, Shelter and Clothing) still is the desired end for most of the country's population. As it was in the 70's when Bhutto ascended to the throne and played Caesar without a tiara and sometimes exuding Mao's aura.

Now his daughter is back...once again. And her return hsa already seen nearly 150 people dead and scores injured in two horrific bomb blasts that targeted her procession. The toll could have been much worse. In a blink shorter than a butterfly flapping wings, bloood flew all over. Bodies and bones and a lot more. They were dying. Benazir was rushed to her destination. Cars trampled over bodies. And for those brave ones who were still trying to savor their last breaths...take with them whatevery they could of life and freedom and free will.....it must have been a back-breaking sight...if there was a back...and if it had not been broken. For it was the leader who was to be preserved. They were foot-soldiers and they could lie in pools of drying blood....but when you're breathing your last, you see no difference between the pauper and king...as long as both are breathing. And in those last fleeting glances, they would have known. What they were trying to stand up for - if at all - was nothing but a charade. An attempt at political mileage. Not that BB has not had her own personal heartbreaks. She lost her father and two brothers in a manner that would breakdown even Margaret Thatcher. But she has stood on...but she has also enjoyed the perks of martyrdom. Bhutto continues to have a dominating legacy. Murtaza Bhutto still evokes nostalgic sigh....his death continues to be a mystery. And the forgotten Shahnawaz.....the dandy......is coffee-table for conspiracy hatchers. Yes, she has lost...but she has gained, too. In dollars and pounds and swiss bank accounts. But the special reconciliation ordinance has pardoned her.

But what about those poverty-stricken loyalists who believe in hollow promises of the prophets of politics. They come from urban slums, mostly. And now they are dead. Mere names. And numbers, too. Sadly, this isn't the last. Forutnately, the backlash has not been as severe as it was when it was MQM who were attacked. Or the Islamists. Then all hell would break lose and kids with sticks and guns would maraud the areas where the mob mentality could be prevailed.

So far, PPP has been circumspect. Will the anger abate? Some fear retaliatory attacks. BB apparently isn't as strongly entrenched to consider one or maybe it's teh absence of Zardari, her beau, Mr. 30 percent. He has already implicated the inteligence agencies. And that's mannah for television channels.

The coverage that the entire episode was disturbing. It might not look out-of-place in a Fox News re-run, but the media the world over lapped it up.

Geo News - Pakistan's leading news channel - was being cut live by Al-Jazeera, BBC, CNN, Sky News and probably Fox News, too. And the Geo anchor even got aired on all the foreign channels due to sharp switching. In his rather handsome clothes.

The day started with Pakistan's most highly paid political pundit, Dr Shahid Masood, Ph.D, giving minute-to-minute update of the going-ons inside the plane. First it was people swapping seats to get closer to the political nexus that was perched in teh first class compartment. Some party-members took up seats in teh first-class section. The captain refused to fly and the people had to be made to go back to their seats. Still, the plane had more people in the front half, and as the luggage had been kept out for security purposes, the plane wasn't balanced, and it caused further delay. And Dr. Masood droned on in his usual manner...but his voice did betray some excitement, as if he was witness to a nuclear conflict unravelling in a crystal maze.

Benazir's plan touched base after much delay and finally there was something to shout about. Her solitary tear made ticker-worthy news and channels clamored to claim that she was crying like a harlot confessing her sins...

Once out, she took position atop her bullet-proof compartment - a sign of courage or maybe foolhardiness in retrospect - but a decision that probably emanated envious grunts from GHQ even. The women has no fear....or shame, they would probably say.

It was all very slow. Four hours and only five kilometers travelled. The most exciting day for the political paparazzis was turning into a test-match. The topical joke, ofcourse, was that only a blast could give the whole occassion a Twenty20 twist. And it came....after much waiting ofcourse. And the news channels had a field day. Even a martyr. An unfortunate camera-man who was scheduled to be posted to London...which means opening up of horizons and dream come true for the struggling middle-class denizens. He wasn't as lucky as the news-channel.

There was a race on the death count. It spiralled from 23 to 36 to 58 to 85 and quickly crossed 100. Channel logo's became black and white.....Geo set the trend after the May 12 carnage and all teh rest had to follow.

There was also a death & injured counter. And the race was as stiff here as it was before. Every 2 minutes, there would be a decrease in the number of injured and increase in death.

There was even a burning fire....just like they had it on fox during yesterday's fire in California. Media was basking in the glory of public misery. Reporters were dissecting teh crime scene. Experts (read: Windbags) postulated theories. Beauracrats issued condemnations. Politicians said nothing......substantial.

The pieces had been picked. But the deaths remain. A number on the screen.

Jim Morrison sang about the end. And it rained napalm in Vietnam. But we are immune to such lessons.

Until the next blast, adieu!