I was among those who watched the reaction of the nation when Mumtaz Qadri was hanged for the murder of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer. One reaction was that it was the same day as that of the Oscars, when Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy won a second award for Best Documentary. One post on Facebook was that Qadri had been hanged, Sharmeen had won her second Oscar, and Leonardo DiCaprio at last won a Best Actor Oscar.
I saw a lot of people letting their objection to the death penalty being overcome at Mumtaz Qadri’s hanging. I mean, if they had had their way, he would have been sentenced to life, which doesn’t mean locking the convict up and throwing away the key, it means 14 years jail time. That’s a long time, but it would have meant Qadri getting out of jail. Still, I suppose it showed that the death penalty is not just a barbarism, but has been fully thought out. He had a large funeral, which was considered a cause for jubilation by some, and was dismissed by others. I don’t know if Gen Ziaul Haq had a larger funeral, but I don’t think Qadri had as many Afghan refugees in his.
The hanging revived the debate over the blasphemy law, but not really about the death penalty. It seems one can only discuss the death penalty for murder if the victim has not met anyone sentenced to death for blasphemy.
But enough of Mumtaz Qadri. And of Salman Taseer. Both have gone to their Maker, and are answering for their deeds, both good and bad. The Oscar for Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy was mourned by some because they saw it was spoiling Pakistan’s image abroad. It was also celebrated by some as an honour for Pakistan. Well, excuse me for being so obtuse, but I don’t see that the image has been spoiled, or that the country has been honoured. Did we see Obama hosting Leonardo at the White House for The Revenant, the way Mian Nawaz Sharif hosted her at PM House? Mian Nawaz has been carried away by the belief that Pakistan has somehow been honoured.
Anyway, it seems that he was moved by the honour killing issue, enough impetus for the Punjab Assembly to pass the Women Protection Act. I don’t want women to be subject to violence, but I’m not sure there should be any law placing the local SHO between any husband and wife. And what is to save women from the violence of that SHO? Well, it must be conceded that when there is violence between man and wife, there is no money involved, but the SHO will be persuaded to drop the case only if an appropriate fee is paid. The SHO has a certain standard to maintain, after all.
The decline in the fuel price (and the consequent drops in the gas price and he electricity tariff) has been both substantial and welcome, but has not been sufficient to release SHOs from the need to make their pile. Nor has it been in anyway enough to stop Pakistan going down to Bangladesh. And thus getting knocked out of the Asia T20 Cup.
Well, the Bangladesh players were not the only ones celebrating. So were Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump, who both emerged as winners on Super Tuesday, when five states had primaries. Ted Cruz, for the Republicans, as well as Bernie Sanders for the Democrats, were in the same place as the Pakistan cricket team.
The Pakistan team might be a bunch of losers, but so is Karachi ex-nazim Mustafa Kamal, who has accused MQM chief Altaf Hussain, his former boss, of just being a drunkard but also someone who received money from RAW. Well, at least Altaf could give his party a name. Mustafa Kamal has not even got a name for his new party. I’ve heard Namaloom Afraad suggested, tongue-in-cheek. It’s been a long time, more than 35 years, since the MQM (Haqiqi) was founded by Afaq Ahmad and Amir Khan. Just like Mustafa Kamal has Anis Qaimkhani by his side, Afaq had Amir. Haqiqi once had a slew of MPAs and MNAs on its side, who had joined the party rather than resign their membership. One wonders if the MQM parliamentarians will resign…
Altaf might look to Asif Zardari for help, but I suspect he will look in vain, because Zardari is concerned about the situation in Brazil. No, he isn’t going to the Rio Olympics, he is concerned about the brief detention of former President Ignacio Da Silva Lula, while police searched his house for evidence in the scandal involving Petrobras, the state oil company. Zardari is not only concerned because an ex-president’s immunity has been violated, but because Petrobras was not paying him the requisite Ten Percent.