Baithak Desi Apr 21: Hamid Mir, G Parthasarthy, Balusa, Hunger, Suicides and Missiles, Hinglaj Pilgrimage,

The February 2008 election in Pakistan, in which Gen Pervez Musharraf's loyalists were routed, sent the diplomatic establishments in the White House in Washington and South Block in New Delhi into a tailspin. Despite warnings about Gen Musharraf's growing unpopularity, the diplomatic establishments in New Delhi and Washington remained wedded to the "Musharraf is our best bet" syndrome and wrongly believed till the very last moment that the General was invincible and irreplaceable in Pakistan. While India mercifully steered clear of dabbling in Pakistan's internal politics, (though its pro-Musharraf tilt was plainly visible), Washington has been shaken at the extent to which its policies of supporting Gen Musharraf have backfired. Smiles gone in Pakistan

G Parthasarthy whom I have quoted above is a former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan and is a visiting professor at the New Delhi based Centre for Policy Research.

In the rest of his column, also, he expresses an Indian take on Pakistani Affairs. Keeping this in mind Hamid Mir's column in today's Jang is off the mark and reflects a certain far right take on regional and international affairs.

Yesterday in Zardarigate: Who’s Afraid of Judiciary? I wrote:

• The coalition recalled Gen. Mahmud Ali Durrani, a protege of Shirin Taher-Kheli and a colleague on Balusa, as Ambassador to the Court of St. Bush and appointed him National Security Adviser to the PM Raza Rabbani (Shirin is also a neocon and knows Hussain Haqqani, Ayesha Siddiqua and others through IDSA and other fora.)
• The coalition appointed Hussain Haqqani, first as Ambassador-at-large and then as Ambassador-designate to the Court of St. Bush. Last week Blogger Pakistan ran a long, rambling article by Moin Ansari - Husain Haqqani:-Dangerous 5th Column or Selfish opportunist? which tried to establish Hussain Haqqani as a neocon at best and a neoconzix at worst.

An astute journalist like Hamid Mir should know that today, the post election US worries he writes about have largely dissipated and it is business as usual. If Hamid Mir had written this column soon after February 18, I would have understood the need for expressing his views and would have no bones with it. But his column appeared today. The appointments and moves Raza Rabbani government has made and is making should tell a seasoned journalist like him that when it comes to the US and India the changes since February 18 are cosmetic in nature only. Only faces have changed, not policies.

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Pakistan successfully launches Hataf-VI, Shaheen-II missile. Am I the only one who views this differently?

With articulate suicide notes by young men, with mothers committing suicides with their children, with prices of essential commodities increasingly sliding out of the grasp of average folks, such displays of might indicate seriously misplace priorities for the new coalition government.


Asif Ezdi's The choice before the PPP with a Lewis Carroll quote is worth a read.

Hinglaj pilgrimage begins

By Amar Guriro

KARACHI: The biggest pilgrimage of Pakistani Hindus, the three-day long Mata Hinglaj celebrations, started in Hungol, Balochistan, for which thousands of Hindus, mainly women, children and the elderly, gathered at the Swami Narain Temple in Karachi on Sunday evening to depart in a pilgrim caravan.

“Hindus come from all over Pakistan and even from India for this pilgrimage, usually gathering in Karachi to travel in a caravan,” said Krishna Garagwansi, the spiritual leader of lower caste Hindus, adding that before the RCD highway was constructed connecting Karachi and Gwadar, most people went walking. This brought about the tradition of traveling in a caravan, which continues today, albeit using buses instead of walking.


LONDON - Pakistani tourists and the rail enthusiasts with a sense of adventure and have days to spare will be able to travel by train from London to Lahore when a new link opens later this year for the first time. Pakistan and Iran will link up their lines in the coming months to join the sub-continent’s track to that of Europe under a United Nations-sponsored scheme, it is learnt.
The 7,000-mile Trans-Asia railway will follow one of the old Silk Roads through Istanbul, Tehran, Lahore and Delhi. It is already being described by train buffs as ‘the world’s greatest railway journey’ and will be longer than the Trans-Siberian railway, which spans 5,772 miles. In the Year 3008