Enemies within

Last week Federal Minister for Defence Khawaja Asif, expressing his views on the floor of the National Assembly accused an Indian lobby in the US and Pakistan People’s Party’s former ambassador to Washington Hussain Haqqani of running a campaign against the sale of US F-16 aircraft to Pakistan. When former ambassador Hussain Haqqani and his wife Farhanaz Isphahani former member of the National Assembly of Pakistan in their books strike at the very foundation of Pakistan, and campaign in the US against supply of helicopters and F-16 to Pakistan, it does not need enemies. Farahnaz Ispahani was invited on 13 January 2016 by Observer Research Foundation (ORF), RAW affiliated think tank in New Delhi on launching ceremony of her book titled ‘Purifying the Land of the Pure – Pakistan’s Religious Minorities’.
During presentation, Farahnaz Isphahani said that “the basic ideology of Pakistan i.e. to make a nation on the basis of religion is fundamentally wrong. Pakistan has most dangerous anti-blasphemy laws in the world that has made the life of minorities in Pakistan extremely difficult.” She resorted to conjectures and passed derogatory remarks against many past civil and military leaders including the present elected leadership. In her above book she wrote: “Jinnah had chosen a Hindu, Jogendar Nath Mandal, as the country’s first law minister to affirm that secular lawyers and not theologians would run Pakistan’s legal system”. This is travesty of the truth and intellectual dishonesty, as appointment of a Hindu, Jogendar Nath Mandal as law minister was reflective of the Quaid’s commitment that Pakistan would provide equal opportunities to the minorities.
Secondly, Quaid-e-Azam had appointed Jogendar Nath Mandal to prove that his policy statement before the Constituent Assembly on 11th August 1947, that all citizens would be equal before the law and the state, was not rhetoric. Thirdly, Quaid-e-Azam had categorically stated that elected representatives of the people would frame the constitution (neither secular lawyers nor theologians); and they would seek guidance from the Holy Quran. However, he had made it clear that Pakistan would not be a theological state to be run by clerics. Muslims of the subcontinent had waged struggle under the leadership of Quaid-e-Azam for separate homeland for the Muslims; and naturally it will have Muslim identity. She cried hoarse for declaring Ahmadies as non-Muslims, conveniently forgetting it was late Z.A. Bhutto (a secular) who had declared them non-Muslims in 1974.
Hussain Haqqani and his wife Farahnaz Isphahani continue with their anti-Pakistan activities, ruses and subterfuges. In April 2015, Hussain Haqqani had written an article in Wall Street Journal titled ‘Why are we sending this attack helicopter to Pakistan’? In his article, he was referring to Obama administration’s decision to sell almost $1 billion worth U.S.-made attack helicopters, missiles and other equipment to Pakistan. He wrote: “Unless Pakistan changes its worldview, American weapons will end up being used to fight or menace India and perceived domestic enemies instead of being deployed against jihadists.” Can anybody imagine that a former Pakistan’s ambassador to US could spew venom against his own country – the country he represented in the past? Unfortunately, some over-ambitious individuals stoop so low as to promote their personal interests at the cost of tarnishing the image of their own country.
Hussain Haqqani was appointed as Ambassador to the US by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in April 2008. People were aghast and miffed over 2nd May incident and attack on Salala check post, and the way their country was being dragged on to a perilous precipice. In the memo prepared by Mansoor Ijaz at the behest of ambassador Hussain Haqqani, it was stated that then COAS General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani was accused of planning to bring down the government in the aftermath of the raid on Osama bin Laden on May 2. His credentials have been dubious; he was disloyal to his family, as he divorced two wives and married the third one to fulfill his political ambitions. As a student leader he had become President of student Union in Karachi University by joining Islami Jamiat-e-Tulaba – student wing of Jamat-e-Islami.
But later he joined PML-N and became media advisor to Nawaz Sharif by shifting his loyalties. He had launched an unethical media campaign against PPP targeting late Nusrat Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto. Once again, he shifted his loyalties to the PPP, and was appointed as an Ambassador of Pakistan to USA. During his stint as ambassador, he issued Pakistani visas to foreigners (alien agents) even when agencies concerned did not clear those foreigners to enter into Pakistani territory. He frequently wrote against Pak Army and blamed the ISI for every wrong that took place in this country. He was thoroughly exposed by the Memo Commission, which was constituted by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in December 2011 under the chairmanship of Chief Justice Baluchistan High Court Justice Qazi Faez Isa.
The sealed report presented by the Memo Commission was read out to the apex court’s nine-member bench, which stated that the former ambassador was a functionary of government of Pakistan, but he was not loyal to the country. The bench directed the report should be issued to all the petitioners and the media. Yet more appallingly, some palmed-off commentariat and media networks were openly acting as the agents of inimical alien powers, purveying freely the perfidies of their foreign benefactors. Nevertheless, Pakistan has suffered because of enemies within who have brought ignominy to Pakistan, and must be exposed by patriotic elements in the media.
It was unfortunate that Hussain Haqqani was appointed as an ambassador to the US when everybody knew about his dubious past, and especially the views he expressed in his book titled ‘Pakistan between mosque and military.’ In this book, he had analysed and traced the origins of the relationships between Islamist groups and military, thus disparaging Pakistan and its army. He conveniently forgot that the US was responsible in equal measure for supporting – funding and supplying military hardware including missiles to jihadis in 1980s. Such characters should be exposed and brought to book to discourage other over-ambitious, over-zealous persons and agents of the alien forces.