The Twins Gyanendra And Prachanda Are Watching Closed-Circuit Television

At one end you have Gyanendra, the ringleader of the Monarchists. At another you have Prachanda, the top dog of the Maoists. Both talk of democracy: one of a "constructive democracy," of a redefined "free press." The other has gone on record for a "Democratic Republic" but has now put his second in command Baburam Bhattarai under arrest and possible disciplinary action - "shuddhikaran" - for disagreeing with him. I have no idea what the disagreement exactly was. But if Prachanda is not going to be able to talk things out with his own colleagues, he gives evidence he does not get the idea of "free speech" either, kind of like his twin at the other end of the political spectrum.

When Gyanendra talks of democracy, he means the Musharraf democracy, when Prachanda talks of a democratic republic, he means Kim Jong Il's democratic republic.

Both these honchos, the biggest impediments to peace and progress in the country, are watching closed-circuit television. No matter which direction they look, they hear echoes of their own majestic voices whispering to them. They seem to be singularly incapable of discerning viewpoints different from their own. They both live in worlds where they see their own projections cast far and wide. It is the nature of the groups they lead that dissent does not come within close perimeters to either of them. What they demand and get is obedience.

Both thrive on tension. As soon as peace arrives, both stand to disapper, like mosquitoes after the swamp has been drained out.

As someone has said, if you go far enough to the left, you meet the same idiots that you meet at the far end of the right. Case in point: they say there is this no-man's-land somewhere in Latin America where the Al Qaeda types and the American white supremacists get together and trade secrets like bomb-making techniques. Gyanendra and Prachanda might have much in common after all: neither "get" democracy.

The cute thing though is the democrats do not have to wait for these two extremists to undergo change of heart and mind. All the democrats need to do is to get their house in order. Hold wide-ranging debate and discussions to lead to a common minimum program. Keep jabbing at it. Cast the net wider. Let there be a broad participation in the discussion. As soon as an enlightened, broad democratic unity takes shape, these twins stand to get sidelined.

Gyanendra's claim that he will hold municipal elections within a year is his admission that a year from now the ground realities will not have changed: the Maoists will still be controlling the countryside, and he will still be Mayor of Kathmandu. If that be the case a year from now, who is to say that will not be the case three years from now? The guy simply has no gameplan. He is driven by a guttural instinct to aggrandize his personal power base in the only way he knows. That is all.

Sharad Chandra Shah: "He has risked his crown." Damn right he has. If the king's right hand man, Da Mandale, sees a 50-50 chance that the country might go republic, and because the king never sold his Nirmal Niwas to the government, one is to believe the king himself shares that feeling, well then, why not plain come out with it!

Pakistan News

• Pakistan detains opposition leader CNN International ...... security forces stormed his plane as it arrived in the country ...... Authorities virtually shut down Lahore in advance of Zardari's arrival, with thousands of police on the streets and more than 50 roadblocks set up...... took cameras from journalists ...... shut down cell towers to cut off cell phone service ..... beaten ...... government blocked train service into Lahore and worked to prevent opposition activists elsewhere from boarding trains to Lahore ..... "They arrested me from within the plane and took me on the tarmac in the car, and took me to my house and blocked everybody coming in," Zardari told CNN by telephone from his home. "They say if you come out we're going to arrest you." Pakistani authorities gave a different story, saying Zardari was in "protective custody." Government officials said Zardari requested such custody, but he denied that....... the government was "trying to keep space open for fundamentalist parties. They don't want to deal with the liberal parties......planned rallies did not take place ..... "there's a lot happening. Democracy is today's world order. Everybody's talking democracy in the region and the world. And they will have to give us free, fair elections and democracy." ..... government deployed about 12,000 police in advance ..... 4,000 of the officers were stationed around the airport ..... At least two journalists were listed in critical condition from injuries suffered ...... Benazir Bhutto, who has been living in self-imposed exile, fearing arrest on corruption charges if she returns to Pakistan...... hundreds of PPP members managed to reach the Lahore airport. More than 100, including some members of parliament, were arrested when they started chanting slogans ..... More than 5,000 PPP workers, leaders and members of parliament have been arrested since Friday ..... The government of President Pervez Musharraf has been adamant about quashing political demonstrations in Lahore. Pakistan's Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told CNN on Friday the government would not allow the PPP to hold any rally or public gathering in the city. Opposition parties in the National Assembly walked out in protest ..... sealed the borders of Sindh and Punjab provinces ...... Transportation routes into Lahore from other cities was suspended ...... all PPP offices were sealed ..... warned the government of serious consequences if it tried to scuttle Saturday's reception.
• Pakistan activists head for showdown Financial Times, UK ..... The government can use any strong-arm methods but that would not break our resolve...... "There is a campaign of terror which has been unleashed. The government has gone berserk" ..... have banned gatherings of more than three people ...... Zardari was released on bail in November after eight years in prison on charges ranging from corruption to murder ...... "Their policy of confrontation means the PPP will be clean bowled," said Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, the minister of information, using a cricketing term for clear defeat...... fear that a spectacular return for Mr Zardari would encourage Ms Bhutto, who has lived in exile for almost eight years, to consider returning to Pakistan and lead an anti-government movement...... PPP has also been strengthened by the recent admission by a leading politician from another key opposition party - the Pakistan Muslim League led by Nawaz Sharif, an exiled former prime minister - that it had been a mistake to have filed charges against Mr Zardari....... "Right now, there's increasing convergence of views between the main opposition parties ..... General Musharraf doesn't know how to deal with this situation in a political sense. His only objective is to consolidate his own rule."
• Zardari lands in ‘protective custody’ Calcutta Telegraph, India .....interior minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao ..... said in Peshawar that the government was only trying to protect Zardari ...... Zardari threatened to move a higher court against his detention ...... Zardari said he was not allowed to leave the house, which was guarded by hundreds of officers...... Punjab chief minister, Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, nobody was detained at the airport and Zardari had “himself asked for security”. Elahi accused the PPP of creating media hype over Zardari’s detention...... 70,000 PPP supporters had been detained ...... would not be deterred from staging rallies. “If I can’t do it today, I will do tomorrow” ...... government yesterday issued a red alert on all airports ......
• Pakistani Opposition Figure Taken Into Custody on Return New York Times arrest on Saturday threatened to further complicate relations between the opposition and the Pakistani president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf..... Ms. Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, the largest opposition party, is widely seen as the most serious threat to General Musharraf.
• PPP to move LHC against ‘house arrest’ Daily Times, Pakistan Dr Babar Awan, counsel for Asif Ali Zardari, will challenge the “house arrest” of the PPP leader in the Lahore High Court ......Awan could not file his petition, as according to him the police did not allow him to meet Zardari to get a power of attorney signed ..... Lawyers have warned the government of countrywide protests if all political workers arrested in connection with PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari’s return are not released within 24 hours..... The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA), Punjab Bar Council (PbBC) and People’s Lawyers Forum (PLF) gave the ultimatum ...... termed the arrests of political workers and leaders and manhandling of journalists ‘state terrorism’ ..... pledged assistance to those who would file cases against the administration ...... political parties and citizens had fundamental rights, which the ruling class could not deny ..... Restoration of the constitution, democracy and early elections are the aims of the democratic parties..... anyone shaking hand with General Pervez Musharraf would die politically...... will file cases for the release of the arrested workers.
• ‘We crossed 10 barricades to greet Asif Ali Zardari’ Daily Times, Pakistan two women members of the National Assembly and a senator from the PPP managed to reach the airport along with a few hundred workers to welcome Asif Ali Zardari...... “We were stopped at the first picket in front of Rahat Bakery where a heavy police contingent was deployed. The police arrested the parliamentarians, but I managed to escape since I had a valid ticket for New Delhi. Besides, mine is not a well-known face in central Punjab,” said the senator from Sindh...... a few hundreds who had also managed to reach the airport in the guise of passengers and drivers ...... as soon as Asif Zardari’s plane landed at the airport and he disembarked, the ‘reception committee’ unfurled party flags and started shouting slogans ......After achieving our objective and making our presence felt at the airport in spite of the heavy contingency plan by the Punjab government, we went our separate ways as we had planned...... He said that as he was getting into his car to leave the airport, some security personnel stopped him and took him to a police van. “They let me go after I told them I was a passenger and had just come to see what the commotion was about”
• on the record: Daily Times, Pakistan Whenever the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) returns to power, it will punish police officials who have carried out injustices against PPP activists, Benazir Bhutto, PPP chairperson, said via telephone from Dubai..... The era of the government is about to end, I salute your courage and patience you have shown that the PPP will never kneel before a tyrant
• People indifferent to Asif Zardari’s return: Shujaat Daily Times, Pakistan There was no zeal or fervour on the return of Asif Zardari, the media just exaggerated it, said Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Pakistan Muslim League (PML) president and former prime minister ..... “To reach Islamabad, he should wait till the 2007 general elections.” The PPPP leaders seek the West’s help for power in Pakistan, the former prime minister said...... Dialogue with the PPPP is possible if it supports President Pervez Musharraf’s policies, he added. He denied that his views on President Musharraf’s concept of ‘enlightened moderation’ matched that of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal’s.
• Zardari free to move, says CM Daily Times, Pakistan Elahi said the government did not arrest Zardari but gave him protocol at his party’s request.
• Zardari taken into custody on arrival Daily Times, Pakistan
• PML-N unhappy for not being part of ‘welcome show’ Daily Times, Pakistan The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is unhappy with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) for not letting it be a part of the reception of Asif Ali Zardari...... conflicting opinions within ...... said Zardari was not a popular leader and that their party’s previous government had pressed charges against Zardari and welcoming him would show these charges to be fabricated.
• Zardari expects general elections this year Daily Times, Pakistan dialogue would continue with the government for the restoration of “real democracy” ...... democratic forces would continue trying to bring about a positive change in the country through dialogue but they would be compelled to launch agitation if the government continued victimising the opposition ...... I will break the police cordon along with the workers to free them from state terrorism ..... would register cases against workers’ arrest and police torture ..... he would sit start his political activities from Lahore’s Bilawal House and his programme of touring Punjab’s cities would be finalised ..... praised the Muttahida Majlis-e-Aamal for cancelling its rally in Lahore......the government was trying to forcibly send MNAs Sherry Rehman and Naheed Khan and Senator Safdar Abbasi abroad...... believed general elections in Pakistan would be held this year and power brokers other than General Pervez Musharraf would guarantee fair, free and transparent elections
• EDITORIAL: Punjab government’s act of denial Daily Times, Pakistan the provincial government psyched up its entire administrative machinery, arresting PPP workers and leaders, blocking trains coming in from Sindh, setting up checkpoints and roadblocks at all entry and exit points in Lahore and restricting movement towards the airport. The legal umbrella to this activity was provided by the always-handy Section 144 which the government had slapped on days earlier ..... The Punjab government’s panic was linked really to the perception that a sizeable gathering by the PPP could result in a revival of the party’s political fortunes in the province and hurt the prospects of the ruling PMLQ, especially in the forthcoming local elections..... the Chaudhrys have not been able to do much about it given the broader contours of the talks going on between the Musharraf regime and the PPP....... Chaudhrys and the establishment appear to be in sync on the issue of how much rope can be given to the PPP ...... claiming that only the workers trying to take the law into their own hands had been arrested ..... he (Mr Zardari) was resting there and having his breakfast contentedly
• * Says has come to India with message of peace and love Daily Times, Pakistan “I look forward to substantive dialogue that will address all issues and disputes. The period of conflict management is over and we have entered an era of conflict resolution,” President Musharraf said ......Referring to the Agra summit in 2001, President Musharraf said: “The environment at that time was diametrically opposite to today’s. It has turned 180 degrees.” ....... the India-Pakistan composite dialogue as well as people-to-people contact in the past 15 months had created a large constituency of goodwill in both countries and had led to an improved political environment. He said, “We need to seize this opportunity to resolve all bilateral issues including Kashmir.” ..... said he prayed for peace and for the betterment of both countries.
• Bhutto's husband returns to Pakistan, supporters clash with police ... San Diego Union Tribune
• Police intercept Bhutto's husband on return to Pakistan Sydney Morning Herald (subscription), Australia
• Pakistan Police Detain Zardari, Say Not Arrested Boston Globe dimming hopes for political reconciliation in the country..... Bhutto has lived in self-imposed exile since 1999 for fear of arrest on corruption charges and Musharraf has in the past said she would not be allowed to return to politics...... Apparently seeking to bolster his power base and respond to Western critics pushing him to lift curbs on democracy, Musharraf had appeared to soften his position toward her in recent months...... In a similar incident in December, police boarded an airliner that had brought Zardari to Islamabad, detained him and flew him back to Karachi to prevent him addressing rallies.
• No grand return for Zardari BBC News, UK "Here, the mentors of people like [Taleban head] Mullah Omar are free to hold rallies and take out processions, but those espousing a liberal agenda similar to that of President Musharraf are barred from doing so." ...... widely being billed as the party's new operational chief ...... Bookies in Lahore are already taking bets on whether Mr Zardari will be Pakistan's next prime minister........ For those who had witnessed Benazir Bhutto's historic return to Lahore 19 years ago - when she was greeted by a million-strong crowd from all over Pakistan - the loudest noise in the city on Saturday was its silence...... Thousands of idle young men who would sit up late at night discussing the merits of democracy until only a few years ago now return dog-tired from a hectic day at work....... If he needs a grand reception, Mr Zardari perhaps needs to explain what he has to offer that the Lahoris do not already have.
• Pakistan Detains Opposition Leader, Arrests Hundreds Before Pro ... Voice of America
• Pakistan police detain aides as Zardari plane lands Hindustan Times, India
• Bhutto's husband returns to Pak Times of India, India The activists, including women, were baton-charged and then bundled away in police vans........ Top PPP leaders including secretary-general Jehangir Bader and Punjab province president Qasim Zia, were arrested on Friday as they held a meeting at a house in Lahore ...... dropped at his home in Lahore - which is also the PPP headquarters in the city
• Ex-Pakistan PM Bhutto's husband arrested Japan Today, Japan
• Police Arrest Senior Opposition Leaders Los Angeles Times (subscription), CA
• Pak police detain Benazir Bhutto's husband at airport Sify, India
• Bhutto's husband detained in Lahore ABC Online, Australia "He has not been arrested. We have just shifted him to his house," Superintendent of Police Mohammad Usman said. "He will be free there." .... police have erected barricades around Mr Zardari's house to prevent supporters or journalists from reaching it ...... among those detained are Makhdoom Amin Fahim, who is the leader of the parliamentary wing of Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), and its former Foreign Minister Sardar Asseff Ahmed Ali ...... The Government of military ruler President Pervez Musharraf refused to give permission for PPP supporters to rally in Lahore to greet him...... The party says thousands of its activists have been detained in the past week.