Here comes the first signal that there is a serious crisis. Pakistan’s President Musharraf has decided to meet his key army generals for consultation. He is yet to learn the basic lesson…that Pakistan also has civilian Opposition leadership that needs to be consulted.
Otherwise the bluff and bluster game would come to an end sooner than later.
“A crisis meeting of the Pakistan army’s key corps commanders – the country’s kingmakers and coup-plotters – was looming last night as President Pervez Musharraf’s attempts to remove the chief justice ran into a united front of opposition, says The Australian.
“Reports in Pakistan said the 10 lieutenant-generals – commanders of about 20 army divisions – plus other military brass would meet in extraordinary session with the embattled General Musharraf to discuss the sacking of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and other issues causing national concern.
“General Musharraf suspended Mr Chaudhry on Friday for alleged misconduct, sparking protests by lawyers and opposition parties, in effect calling for the restoration of democracy.
“The move has provoked warnings of a looming constitutional crisis before parliamentary elections expected late this year.
“With remarkable understatement, one report on the summoning of the corps commanders yesterday spoke of the Government being ‘very upset, as it believes its attempt to remove the Chief Justice has turned out to be highly counter-productive’.
“Such meetings of the power elite in Pakistan are rare, and considered of great significance.”
Another important development is the arrival in Islamabad of US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher today. Boucher, who is Washington’s point man for South and Central Asian affairs, arrived from Kabul. This is his second visit to Pakistan in two months.
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.