In a desperate bid to stay in power, General Pervez Musharraf staged a coup against the rule of law in Pakistan in November this year. His declaration of martial law, suspension of the constitution and basic rights was aimed at overthrowing Pakistan’s Supreme Court. Faced with choice of being president and being bound by the […]
Pakistan in Crisis
In November 2007, eight years after he first seized power in a coup, and six years after declaring himself president of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency, suspended the Constitution and basic rights, dismissed the Supreme Court, and imposed a media blackout. He also put former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who had returned to Pakistan in October after eight years of self-imposed exile, under house arrest. On December 27, 2007, Bhutto was killed in a bomb and gun attack, just 12 days before parliamentary elections scheduled for January 8, 2008. Elections will now be held on February 18.
Pakistan in Crisis
The Speech of Generals: Some Meditations on Pakistan by Way of Subaltern Studies
by Naveeda KhanIn this brief paper, I analyze the speech of Generals in Pakistan to bring to light the different ways in which the idea of a people is evoked to suggest the possibility of multiple selves of Generals that, in turn, mirror their relation to the multiple selves through which the promise of Pakistan is to […]
Pakistan in Crisis
Unarmed Pathans
by Mukulika BanerjeeThere are good reasons why civilizations need to remember and celebrate their history, even when it is made by insignificant subalterns or away from the centres of power. Any reluctance to incorporate these smaller and sometimes divergent movements into the nationalist historiography can create a picture of the nation that is uni-dimensional, rigid and eroded […]
Pakistan in Crisis
The Governance Related Repercussions of Constitutional Deviation
by Arif HasanThe present political crisis has been discussed to death in the press, and before it was curbed, in the electronic media. However, its governance related repercussions still need to be analysed. The process of trying to legitimise “constitutional deviation” is more destructive of the institutions of governance that affect the lives of common citizens, than […]
Pakistan in Crisis
Political Crisis on a Silent Street
by Ali CheemaThe renowned sociologist Saskia Sassen, having witnessed the suspension of Pakistan’s Constitution during her recent trip to Lahore, raises a critical question in her Guardian article: will the street rise? Based on her experience of the street in Lahore she concludes that “(m)y experience… was of bustling shops and bazaars: no closed shops, no drawn […]
Pakistan in Crisis
Musharraf and His Collaborators
by Akbar ZaidiSo much for President General Pervez Musharraf’s policy of moderate enlightenment. Or was it, enlightened moderation? One forgets. Whatever it was, it is probably buried under the events of the past few months following the announcement of the Emergency/Martial Law in Pakistan. It is not just that an Emergency has been enforced in Pakistan which […]