09-15-2006, 02:44 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->THE FRIDAY TIMES : 15-21 SEPTEMBER 2006
<b>SUCH GUP</b>
<b>To tell the truth</b>
One evening last week, one of Pakistanâs most eminent and outspoken rights campaigners, <b>Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy, tested the limits of media free</b>dom. A local television channel had asked him to be one of their guests for a live programme on Defence Day, September 6 1965, when the Indo-Pakistan war ended in a stalemate and ceasefire brokered by the international community. Of course, it is billed as our khakisâ great moment of glory, possibly because the two other conflicts that followed in 1971 and 1999 were such ignominious routs.
But back to the programme -- also on the panel with Dr Hoodbhoy were a retired general and a retired air marshal from Karachi and a former ambassador from Islamabad. The generals waxed eloquent about the importance of 1965, the power, strength, etc. of the khakis until Dr Hoodbhoy got his first chance to speak or, rather, launch a broadside. So he asked why they didn't talk about the <b>loss of East Pakistan in 1971, Kargil in 1999,</b> and the many years in between when âtheir glorious army has been throwing bombs and machine gunning the Pakistani population in places like Balochistan and Waziristan, and the only war it has won has been against our own people?â to quote Dr H.
The anchor kept interrupting Dr Hoodbhoy but he fended him off until it appeared useless and then Dr H threw off the microphone and walked off the set. The link to Karachi, where the anchor was based with the two military men, mysteriously broke so Dr H wasnât aware whether his walkout was visible to viewers.
Anyhow, by the time Dr Hoodbhoy reached the elevator outside, a bunch of the TV crew came running after him to persuade him that he should return and complete what he had been saying. They said they liked very much what he was saying and that they knew exactly what the khakis had done to Pakistan. So Dr H did go back. The anchorman, thinking he was on safer ground, eventually returned to Dr H and asked about the economy. So Dr H launched a second broadside about the army having eaten Pakistan out of the house and home, having become real estate sharks, forcibly capturing industries. He ended by saying:<b> âfauj ka kam mulk ka difaa karna hai, cheenee aur dalia banana nahin hai - yeh ploton aur murrabon ka karobar chhor dainâ</b>. The compere had another panic attack and cut Dr H off once again and launched into panegyrics of the great sacrifices rendered by the Pakistan army for the sake of the fatherland.
When asked to confirm the above episode, Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy did so and sent us his last word:<b> âThis country lives in terror of its occupiers... the truth has to be toldâ. </b>
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<b>SUCH GUP</b>
<b>To tell the truth</b>
One evening last week, one of Pakistanâs most eminent and outspoken rights campaigners, <b>Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy, tested the limits of media free</b>dom. A local television channel had asked him to be one of their guests for a live programme on Defence Day, September 6 1965, when the Indo-Pakistan war ended in a stalemate and ceasefire brokered by the international community. Of course, it is billed as our khakisâ great moment of glory, possibly because the two other conflicts that followed in 1971 and 1999 were such ignominious routs.
But back to the programme -- also on the panel with Dr Hoodbhoy were a retired general and a retired air marshal from Karachi and a former ambassador from Islamabad. The generals waxed eloquent about the importance of 1965, the power, strength, etc. of the khakis until Dr Hoodbhoy got his first chance to speak or, rather, launch a broadside. So he asked why they didn't talk about the <b>loss of East Pakistan in 1971, Kargil in 1999,</b> and the many years in between when âtheir glorious army has been throwing bombs and machine gunning the Pakistani population in places like Balochistan and Waziristan, and the only war it has won has been against our own people?â to quote Dr H.
The anchor kept interrupting Dr Hoodbhoy but he fended him off until it appeared useless and then Dr H threw off the microphone and walked off the set. The link to Karachi, where the anchor was based with the two military men, mysteriously broke so Dr H wasnât aware whether his walkout was visible to viewers.
Anyhow, by the time Dr Hoodbhoy reached the elevator outside, a bunch of the TV crew came running after him to persuade him that he should return and complete what he had been saying. They said they liked very much what he was saying and that they knew exactly what the khakis had done to Pakistan. So Dr H did go back. The anchorman, thinking he was on safer ground, eventually returned to Dr H and asked about the economy. So Dr H launched a second broadside about the army having eaten Pakistan out of the house and home, having become real estate sharks, forcibly capturing industries. He ended by saying:<b> âfauj ka kam mulk ka difaa karna hai, cheenee aur dalia banana nahin hai - yeh ploton aur murrabon ka karobar chhor dainâ</b>. The compere had another panic attack and cut Dr H off once again and launched into panegyrics of the great sacrifices rendered by the Pakistan army for the sake of the fatherland.
When asked to confirm the above episode, Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy did so and sent us his last word:<b> âThis country lives in terror of its occupiers... the truth has to be toldâ. </b>
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