Abid Sher Ali sets the record straight. please try to watch the whole thing no matter how unsettling the bitter truth is for Musharraf’s yuppies and Zaid Hamid’s groupies.
really surprised by Abid Sher Ali. always thought of him as a pretty maatha speaker. but he was on fire in this one. totally spot on.
samb ur so right, nobody questions fauji for** raping** this country!
Re: food for thought for Musharraf's facebook groupies
Pak Army, and corrupt dictators like Musharraf are the biggest reason Pakistan is in such as bad state
Watching this video made me shake my head.
this is like that PPP clown who said corruption is our right.
I was amazed at the fact that none of these big names pays any tax.... and this idiot choose to ignore that fact and just kept going on about 'others'....
So someone being corrupt and a tax chore justifies your corruption and tax chori as well???
The anchor was right... YOU are the elected govt....he gave you the vote. YOU are accountable.
What makes you any better if THAT is your reply to the question.
And to top it all off, his idiotic rant is being praised here. Pathetic.
Re: food for thought for Musharraf's facebook groupies
you know I started to seriously think about this whole corrupt politician thing a few years ago... and it really intrigues me. because I was a thoroughly apolitical person for the longest time. I used to read the paper religiously but avoided all the political stories because I believed all of them were corrupt and children of the devil himself. so why bother with the heart ache. but realistically speaking, I had never seen any proof or thought critically about the issue.
then, I started getting interested in political affairs and while I still haven't seen any concrete proof of the supposedly infinite corruption of Zardari, Sharfi, Bhutto, etc, it really intrigues me how even if an abcd who's probably never been to the country as an adult will say that Zardari is not only the most corrupt person in Pakistan, but the devil himself. you ask him/her for proof... the response is aein-baein-shaein like Swiss accounts, etc. or that he/she heard it from others... that it's common knowledge, etc.
the conclusion I have come to is that this is the greatest PR hatchet job that our brave army has pulled off on a politician. they've managed to link corruption and Zardari in every Pakistani's subconscious. a Pakistani thinks of corruption, he thinks Zardari or Sharif. another mission accomplished by the Pak army.
but it doesn't just end there, it's funny that people who support the likes of Zia and Mushrraf will say that for all their faults at least the two weren't corrupt like the politicians. they weren't, really? again great PR job. Zia supposedly came from a humble background. how is his son so rich today? how are the children of his cronies and fellow jarnails of the time so rich today?
and Musharraf.... Mr. Clean. who supposedly did no corruption. how did he build himself a multicrore mansion in Islamabad? he also comes from a middle class background. as far as I know generals aren't paid in crores. where did uncle Mushy get all that money? and apparently he is also buying himself a luxury apartment in UK. where is all this money coming from for uncle Mushy? does the army now pay in dollars and pounds. wish I'd known... I would have gone to Kakul too then.
you get to wear a spiffy uniform, get all kinds of shiny medals, steal millions of dollars, get to drive around in Mercedes, rule over the country like a king AND get so many supporters on facebook. what a wicked deal. where do I sign up?
the only valid point the anchor made is that the politicians must take action against these corrupt jarnails, media barons, bureaucrats. otherwise Abid Sher Ali, Kashmala and Samsam Bukhari were spot on.
Re: food for thought for Musharraf’s facebook groupies
more heartache for Musharraf’s Muslim League - the Facebook faction.
The military millionaires who control Pakistan Inc | The Spectator
Elliot Wilson says Pakistan’s economy is dominated by a ruthless business conglomerate that owns everything from factories and bakeries to farmland and golf courses: the army
Sometime in late 2004, Pakistan’s all-powerful army made a curious decision. Under mounting pressure from London and Washington to capture Osama bin Laden, believed to be hiding in Baluchistan, Islamabad’s fighting forces instead turned their attention to a far more profitable venture: building golf courses.
In itself this wasn’t particularly unusual. With 620,000 soldiers, Pakistan boasts the world’s seventh-largest standing army, but its senior officers long ago realised the perks to be gained from commercial ventures. Since independence in 1947, the army has steadily intertwined itself into Pakistan’s economy: so much so that it’s hard to tell where the military stops and any semblance of free-market capitalism begins.
All too often, there is no dividing line. In her 2007 book Military Inc: Inside Pakistan’s Military Economy Dr Ayesha Siddiqa exposes the rampant commercialism pervading every aspect of the country’s military forces, until recently headed by President Pervaiz Musharraf. Dr Siddiqa, a former researcher with the country’s naval forces, estimates the military’s net worth at more than £10 billion — roughly four times the total foreign direct investment generated by Islamabad in 2007. She found that the army owns 12 per cent of the country’s land, its holdings being mostly fertile soil in the eastern Punjab. Two thirds of that land is in the hands of senior current and former officials, mostly brigadiers, major-generals and generals. The most senior 100 military officials are estimated to be worth, at the very least, £3.5 billion.
Many of the country’s largest corporations are also controlled by the military, thanks largely to an opaque network of powerful ‘foundations’ originally set up to look after the pension needs of army personnel. The largest three — the Fauji, Shaheen and Bahria foundations, controlled by the army, air force and navy respectively — control more than 100 separate commercial entities involved in everything from cement to cereal production. Only nine have ever published partial financial accounts, and all are ultimately controlled by the Ministry of Defence, which oversees all of the military’s commercial ventures.
The Fauji foundation, the largest of the lot, is estimated by Siddiqa to be worth several billion pounds. It operates a security force (allowing serving army personnel to double in their spare time as private security agents), an oil terminal and a phosphate joint venture with the Moroccan government. Elsewhere, the Army Welfare Trust — a foundation set up in 1971 to identify potentially profitable ventures for the military — runs one of the country’s largest lenders, Askari Commercial Bank, along with an airline, a travel agency and even a stud farm. Then there is the National Logistic Cell, Pakistan’s largest shipper and freight transporter (and the country’s largest corporation), which builds roads, constructs bridges and stores vast quantities of the country’s wheat reserves.
In short, the military’s presence is all-pervasive. Bread is supplied by military-owned bakeries, fronted by civilians. Army-controlled banks take deposits and disburse loans. Up to one third of all heavy manufacturing and 7 per cent of private assets are reckoned to be in army hands. As for prime real estate, a major-general can expect to receive on retirement a present of 240 acres of prime farmland, worth on average £550,000, as well an urban real estate plot valued at £700,000.
Unsurprisingly, the military is loath to release details of its commercial operations. The average Pakistani citizen earns just £1,500 a year, making his country poorer than all but 50 of the world’s nations. Most of the military’s junior officers and other ranks live in squalid tents pitched by the side of main roads, even in the capital Islamabad. Revealing to them that the top brass in their air-conditioned, top-of-the-range Mercedes are worth £35 million each (a few are believed to be dollar billionaires including, it is quietly suggested, Musharraf) would probably create widespread unrest. Little wonder that Dr Siddiqa’s book is banned in the country — and that Musharraf was so reluctant to take off his uniform and declare himself a civilian president.
Financial autonomy has also engendered in the military a dangerous sense of entitlement. When any premier or leading politician attempts to limit the army’s power, or even emasculate it, they get slapped down. In 1990 Benazir Bhutto, during her first stint as premier, made a concerted attempt to ‘secularise’ the army, installing non-army personnel at the highest level. Shortly afterwards, her government was forced out. She tried again in May 2006, joining with another former civilian leader, Nawaz Sharif, to issue a Charter of Democracy designed to reduce the economic power of the armed forces. Yet with Bhutto’s assassination, the latest move to tame the armed forces has again faltered — a rather convenient situation for the military.
It’s hard to imagine any individual or political body summoning up enough power or courage to challenge the army head-on. bEach year the military gobbles up a bit more land, diversifies into new markets and industries and steadily consolidates power in the key sectors of agriculture, energy, natural resources, logistics and construction.**
On the rare occasions when any constitutional body has stood its ground, the army has given it short shrift. **In 2005, the Fauji foundation was asked by the elected parliament why it had sold a sugar mill at a ludicrously low price to senior army personnel. The Ministry of Defence refused to reveal any details of the deal. When the Auditor-General’s department questioned why the army was building golf courses — rather than attempting to capture bin Laden — its question was ignored. Yet the Punjab government had that year willingly handed over, for free, 30 acres of prime rural land worth more than £600,000 to the army, which promptly built a driving-range and an 18-hole golf course. **Such ‘presents’ to the military are usually returned with interest, with senior civilian officials often being guaranteed a secure retirement on the board of one or more army-controlled ventures. Craven and submissive attitudes have thoroughly pervaded the political system, which defers to the military at every turn: little wonder that senior officers have so little respect for their civilian peers. Other countries have armies, but Pakistan’s army has a country.
Absolute power, of course, corrupts absolutely. It also engenders a sense of invulnerability — that the wielder of the power can get away with anything. This certainly seems to be the case in Pakistan. Land is being requisitioned left, right and centre across the country. In the financial centre of Karachi, the army has built eight petrol stations on land appropriated from the state. In 2004, the Karachi government again willingly gave land worth £35 million to the military, just because they wanted it. These are just two examples among many.
The military has also begun to act in the manner of a feudal landlord. When landless peasants in central Punjab complained in 2001 that the army had changed the status of the land on which they depended for their subsistence (forcing them to pay rent in cash, rather than working the land on a sharecropping basis) the army cracked down, beating many and leaving eight dead. At one point, Dr Siddiqa quotes a naval officer who questions why landless peasants should have any rights in relation to the land they till. ‘They do not deserve land just because they are poor,’ he says.
It’s hard to imagine anyone managing to circumscribe the economic power of Pakistan’s army. The military’s financial security reinforces its desire to retain control of the state. If full democracy were permitted in Pakistan, it would constitute a threat to the army’s throttling power. And since political power in turn creates greater economic opportunities, it’s in the interest of the military fraternity to perpetuate it. More political power leads to greater profit, and vice versa. The one factor that could still harm the army is its arrogant, dismissive attitude to its own people. Its flagrant profiteering engenders huge resentment in rural and smaller provinces, where the army is increasingly seen as an invading force rather than a protector. Ultimately, there is only so much abuse that an impoverished and subjugated populace can take before it rises up in protest.
Re: food for thought for Musharraf's facebook groupies
We can have our budget deficit cleaned out and better governance only if the remuneration and perks to military officers is brought down to the level of what is paid in India. We shall have true patriotic people leading the military. Politicians would know that they have to go to the people every five years, reduce corruption since they would not being 'fired' by military every few years and we would have chance to figure out whom to elect.
you know I started to seriously think about this whole corrupt politician thing a few years ago... and it really intrigues me. because I was a thoroughly apolitical person for the longest time. I used to read the paper religiously but avoided all the political stories because I believed all of them were corrupt and children of the devil himself. so why bother with the heart ache. but realistically speaking, I had never seen any proof or thought critically about the issue.
then, I started getting interested in political affairs and while I still haven't seen any concrete proof of the supposedly infinite corruption of Zardari, Sharfi, Bhutto, etc, it really intrigues me how even if an abcd who's probably never been to the country as an adult will say that Zardari is not only the most corrupt person in Pakistan, but the devil himself. you ask him/her for proof... the response is aein-baein-shaein like Swiss accounts, etc. or that he/she heard it from others... that it's common knowledge, etc.
the conclusion I have come to is that this is the greatest PR hatchet job that our brave army has pulled off on a politician. they've managed to link corruption and Zardari in every Pakistani's subconscious. a Pakistani thinks of corruption, he thinks Zardari or Sharif. another mission accomplished by the Pak army.
but it doesn't just end there, it's funny that people who support the likes of Zia and Mushrraf will say that for all their faults at least the two weren't corrupt like the politicians. they weren't, really? again great PR job. Zia supposedly came from a humble background. how is his son so rich today? how are the children of his cronies and fellow jarnails of the time so rich today?
and Musharraf.... Mr. Clean. who supposedly did no corruption. how did he build himself a multicrore mansion in Islamabad? he also comes from a middle class background. as far as I know generals aren't paid in crores. where did uncle Mushy get all that money? and apparently he is also buying himself a luxury apartment in UK. where is all this money coming from for uncle Mushy? does the army now pay in dollars and pounds. wish I'd known... I would have gone to Kakul too then.
you get to wear a spiffy uniform, get all kinds of shiny medals, steal millions of dollars, get to drive around in Mercedes, rule over the country like a king AND get so many supporters on facebook. what a wicked deal. where do I sign up?
the only valid point the anchor made is that the politicians must take action against these corrupt jarnails, media barons, bureaucrats. otherwise Abid Sher Ali, Kashmala and Samsam Bukhari were spot on.
Don't you think you are contradicting yourself there????The whole world knows Zardari is corrupt, his assets are worth a few billion dollars and Swiss accounts are proof that he is NOT clean. But it's true that an average Pakistani doesn't have any proof against Zardari.
Then you question how Musharraff has an expensive house???Do you have proof of his corruption???At least he is an educated and qualified person. Do you expect Zardari to earn millions of dollars giving lectures in foriegn universities???? What would he lecture about???
There is no doubt that military needs to be accountable and we shouldn't give them all the power but at least they giv you something back in return. What do these idiots give us when they openly say that it's our right to be corrupt.
you know I started to seriously think about this whole corrupt politician thing a few years ago... and it really intrigues me. because I was a thoroughly apolitical person for the longest time. I used to read the paper religiously but avoided all the political stories because I believed all of them were corrupt and children of the devil himself. so why bother with the heart ache. but realistically speaking, I had never seen any proof or thought critically about the issue.
then, I started getting interested in political affairs and while I still haven't seen any concrete proof of the supposedly infinite corruption of Zardari, Sharfi, Bhutto, etc, it really intrigues me how even if an abcd who's probably never been to the country as an adult will say that Zardari is not only the most corrupt person in Pakistan, but the devil himself. you ask him/her for proof... the response is aein-baein-shaein like Swiss accounts, etc. or that he/she heard it from others... that it's common knowledge, etc.
the conclusion I have come to is that this is the greatest PR hatchet job that our brave army has pulled off on a politician. they've managed to link corruption and Zardari in every Pakistani's subconscious. a Pakistani thinks of corruption, he thinks Zardari or Sharif. another mission accomplished by the Pak army.
but it doesn't just end there, it's funny that people who support the likes of Zia and Mushrraf will say that for all their faults at least the two weren't corrupt like the politicians. they weren't, really? again great PR job. Zia supposedly came from a humble background. how is his son so rich today? how are the children of his cronies and fellow jarnails of the time so rich today?
and Musharraf.... Mr. Clean. who supposedly did no corruption. how did he build himself a multicrore mansion in Islamabad? he also comes from a middle class background. as far as I know generals aren't paid in crores. where did uncle Mushy get all that money? and apparently he is also buying himself a luxury apartment in UK. where is all this money coming from for uncle Mushy? does the army now pay in dollars and pounds. wish I'd known... I would have gone to Kakul too then.
you get to wear a spiffy uniform, get all kinds of shiny medals, steal millions of dollars, get to drive around in Mercedes, rule over the country like a king AND get so many supporters on facebook. what a wicked deal. where do I sign up?
the only valid point the anchor made is that the politicians must take action against these corrupt jarnails, media barons, bureaucrats. otherwise Abid Sher Ali, Kashmala and Samsam Bukhari were spot on.
For Once, i agree..! Well said
Let me add little bit in it, now a days if you read the columns, you find something bit strange, it is praising the bureaucrats and how they should manage and keep the politicians in their lane... then i ask myself a question, for how long these bureaucrats has been in power? more than army or politicians... no body talks about their billions of dollars!!! their foreign trips in name of medical and educational services!!! i guess bureaucracy is the one who have brought us to this situation, in order to hide their corruption and incompetence, they use the shoulder of politicians and army generals...
I don’t know how this is food for thought for Musharraff supporters. Abid Sher Ali acted like the biggest loser. If i was him and really concerned about corruption done by army officers, i would have said “this is how much tax i paid last year”, now you tell me how much taxes such and such military officer pays and how many times have you called them on your show??
The host was absolutely right in saying that he has voted for politicians and he has every right to question them how much tax they have all paid. All three kept on pointing fingers at others but couldn’t even answer once how much they have paid themselves.
Food for thought for who???
Re: food for thought for Musharraf’s facebook groupies
BBC NEWS | South Asia | Swiss judge convicts Bhutto
There is your proof for Zardari and Benazir. No international court has convicted NS yet. But it will only take time.