Re: "Siyah tareen din..."
"Siyah tareen din..."
So on 10 September Shahbaz upon getting a good night's sleep in his London apartment after seeing off elder brother at Heathrow and flexing his acting muscle with that 'passenger-feels-heart-pain-and-gets-off-loaded-meanwhile-paa-ji-asked-me-to-stay-back- -even-though-I-had-boarding-passes-but-oh-well-paisa-wadda-aye’ drama was venting his soulful heart out on Kamran Khan's special transmission on Geo News.
He repeated among other crappy statements and empty slogans a cliche "Ye Pakistan ki tareekh ka **siyah tareen din* hai...". And went on to rant about the *aaeein, adliya ki azadi, aayin ki paasdaari, Musharraf ki wardi, Musharraf ki waada khilafi, Musharraf ke fauji half ki khalaf warzi, 16 crore awaam ki marzi, and last and in his heart's priorities definitely least, jamhooriyat!
Every few months we have another qaum ka 'Siyah tareen din...'
Can we first please decide which is the ultimate 'Siyah tareen din...'? For the qaum that is, and not a few individuals who think the *qaum *is because of them, or that the *qaum *revolves around them or their personal motives.
Let’s begin from 1947 and search the real **‘siyahest **tareen din’ and also identify the culprits for what they did and why and how?
** 1947**: Kashmir overpowered by India.
** 1948 11 September**: Founding father passes away; without coining the constitution.
** 1951 16 October**: The first Prime Minister shot dead in broad daylight at a public gathering.
** 1951-58**: Repeated leadership changes.
** 1958 28 October**: First Martial Law by Gen Ayub Khan
** 1965 6 September**: First all out war; with India.
** 1969 25 March*: The 'golden decade' coming to an abrupt end out of romance for democracy by the book* and unrest for sugar prices.
** 1970 7 December*: *Free and Fair Elections held. The results not accepted by the fiery romantic undemocratic Romeos of democracy, neither freely nor fairly. PPP and Bhutto refuse to accept its 88 as less than AL’s 162.
1971: Eastern half of the country isolated socially and politically. East Pakistan leadership in full revolt and separatist intentions. Extends links with India.
1971 25 March: East Pakistan in massive turbulence. Riots, massacres leading to beginning of Army operations. Mujib arrested.
1971 16 December: East Pakistan amputated on 16 December. 90000 taken POW by India.
1971 20 December: Pres Gen Yahya resigns, hands power to Bhutto who becomes President and a civilian CMLA, puts Yahya in house-arrest.
1972 3 March: New Army Chief Lt Gen Gul Hasan ‘fired’. Gen Tikka new COAS.
1973: New Constitution finalized. Bhutto became PM.
1973: Within a short time amended by the Prime Minister Bhutto. The President Fazal Ilahi being accomplice.
1976: Bhutto appoints Gen Zia as new COAS replacing Tikka.
1977: ANP, PPP clashes, murder of Ahmed Raza Kasuri’s father, rift in PPP, Elections held, rigged, opposition alliance refuses to accept results, protests.
1977 5 July: PM Bhutto deposed. Martial Law by Gen Zia-ul-Haq.
1978 18 March: Bhutto sentenced to death for killing Kasuri’s father.
1979 4 April: Bhutto hanged.
1979 December: Involvement in Afghan Jihad: doors opened to undocumented refugees, drugs, guns and militancy.
1988 17 August: Gen Zia’s plane blows up and takes down the President-COAS, US ambassador and a few other among top GHQ brass.
1988: After elections PPP under Benazir Bhutto rules over Pakistan and its citizens.
1990: Assemblies dissolved by Ghulam Ishaq half way through their term ending BB’s govt.
1990: Zia’s disciple Nawaz Sharif comes to power.
1993: Nawaz’s govt dissolved and BB comes back to power.
1996 Nov: President Leghari dissolved BB’s govt.
1997: Nawaz Sharif comes back to power.
1997 Nov: SC attacked physically by PM Nawaz's goons.
1998 28 May: Pakistan is nuclear. And also outcast and heavily sanctioned.
1999 May: Kargil.
1999 12 Oct: Sharif hijacks a PIA plane homeward bound from Colombo carrying 198 passengers including over a dozen school children back from a school sponsored trip, the nation’s COAS, his wife, other military personnel and civilian passengers. Without reason or SOP sacks the serving COAS. Orders the pilot not to land at Khi, when told the fuel is low, he asks pilot to land anywhere, and advised to go to Bombay! The loyal disciplined Army neutralizes the ‘Pakistan’s heavy mandate elected prime minister’ from brining disgrace to the nation and acting in totally uncouth non-procedural manner for no good reason other than personal as well as from creating a rift in the army and its valued traditions by trying appointing a scheming Lt General of a non-combat arm to the post of COAS.
** 1999 13 Oct**: COAS Gen Musharraf takes over charge of the country as Chief Executive. Does not hand over power back...to...who...?
** 2000 10 Dec** : Nawaz Sharif, with loads of charges against him enough to either put him in for life if not close to the green mile, sent by Musharraf untried, pardoned to live happily ever after in KSA out of a life-saving deal brokered by the Saudi Royals on Nawaz’s insistence which he embraced and accepted readily and signed an agreement.
** 2001**: Musharraf becomes President.
** 2001 July**: The historic Agra Summit with huge hopes attached ends with no results.
2001 11 Sep: 9/11 Attacks on the US.
2001 Oct: Pakistan’s involvement in the ‘war on terror’. Under the ‘with us or againt us’ procedure.
2002: The local as well as Int’l pressure on the Musharraf government to ‘restore democracy’, ‘hold elections’ comes to be. The selected clean-background ‘technocrats’ who’d been faring fairly well for the country since 1999 could not be elected; to fulfill demands of elections power play and dynamics are set in motion. Ironically the same faces that had to be eliminated (holding considerable vote banks nonetheless) are gathered by Musharraf to assemble electoral thrust by over-powering the crooks of yore through their Achilles’ Heels (or corruption files at NAB) and are domesticated to work with and come up with a workable solution to satisfy the demands for ‘democracy’ as well as keep the bigger sharks, crocodiles and crooks at bay: Theoretically an ill-devised solution; practically a master plan, which has worked well.
2003: The elected yet docile PM Zafar Jamali replaced by successful world renowned banker and salary-less Finance Minister till 2002, brought in as the new picture-perfect PM.
** 2003 14 December**: The threat of terrorism, bombings, attacks and suicide attacks establishes its strong hold on Pakistan when the heavily guarded entourage of President COAS Gen Pervez Musharraf is targetted again killing many in RWP near the secure Cantt area. A new era of life with terrorism begins in Pakistan and the President is the first to feel the tremors.
** 2004 Dec**: Gen Musharraf does not fulfill the promise of a full monty and the MMA takes it to heart.
2005: Situations in Waziristan worsen.
2006: Sardar Akbar Bugti the Baloch Sardar killed defying the GoP's authority.
** 2007 9 March**: A Presidential Reference filed against the CJoP due to his professional misconduct and corruption.
2007 March - July: Political parties joined by lawyers cash in on the sentimental angle and without taking note of the CJ's misconduct and President's right to hold him answerable use the occasion politically against Musharraf. Carry out huge campaigns for political gain.
** 2007 May 12**: CJ arrives in Khi. Political parties clash over him. 42 end up killed.
2007 July: Lal Masjid volatile situation ends in a mess created by the masjid extremist mullahs. Lot of civilians including the revolting extremist Maulana Ghazi up in arms killed, and 11 SSG, 1 Ranger, 1 Cop and 2 journalists also killed.
** 2007 July**: Politicized CJ restored. detailed ruling still not issued.
** 2007 Aug**: SC says Nawaz out on self bargained exile on agreement with another nation can come back.
** 2007 Aug**: Serious and disgustig talks of Mush-BB deal. A very unacceptable solutio, but a way for Mush to survive.
** 2007 10 Sep**: KSA had confirmed that Nawaz had gone out on an agreement and should abide yet Nawaz arrives in Pakistan out of illusions of the SC's tit for tat support as he had supported the CJ he felt he'd go all out for him and selective 'judiciary' will prevail. He's packed and sent where he shouldve been.
** 2007 17 Sep**: SC Bench begins hearing petitions against Gen Musharraf's dual offices; uniform, re-election all dependent...
Now more* 'siayah tareen'* days can come up in the next few days. They can be as follows:
** 2007 Sep**: The day Rana Bhagwandas (if) declares verdicts agaisnt Mush.
** 2007 Sep**: The day (if) Musharraf announces to or sheds uniform.
** 2007 Oct 18**: The day BB comes back and roams free.
** 2007 Oct**: If Musharraf doesnt get to get reelected.
** 2007 Oct**: If polls are derailed.
** 2007 Nov**: If Martial Law imposed?
** 2007 Nov**: If the wrong ppl elected again.
...And so on...
I may've missed some 'siayah dins' during 60 yrs from 1947 to 2007 and in some could not recall some exact dates so have mentioned months or years only, also may have slightly erred in some dates etc. Do pls add and point out where you know of any other '*siyah dins'* or diff dates etc.
But please, let's ponder, what is the real 'Pakistan ki tareekh ka "Siyah Tareen Din"'...!?
WoW!! Thats quite a resume of our Paki democrats.... What can be more siyah then the kind of leaders we have...