Wednesday, November 9, 2011
1:54 PM
Imran the Inevitable
Imran the Inevitable
The historic Lahore rally proves Imran Khan’s legendary self-belief has found new adherents. For Pakistan’s heady politics, this is a game changer.
By Syed Mansoor Hussain | From the Nov. 11 & 18‚ 2011, issue.
Arif Ali / AFP
Lahore loves a show. And on Oct. 30, Imran Khan gave the city one grand enough to remember for a long time.
Iqbal Bagh—where the obelisk-like Minar-e-Pakistan marks the 1940 Lahore Resolution, which set the creation of Pakistan in motion—was packed, the enthusiasm undimmed by the long wait for the cricketer-lothario turned political contender. The last time Pakistan had witnessed such fervor was in 1986, when Benazir Bhutto ended her self-exile and came to the city. She romped to power in the elections held two years later.
Khan’s political coronation within sight of the Lahore Fort capped a week of rallies that confirmed Pakistan has entered the election cycle. There were the modest Occupy This and That events, pop singer Abrar’s Save Pakistan procession, and, two days before Khan’s event, Punjab’s Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif took to the stump encouraging Tahrir Squares across Pakistan and fanning anti-Zardari fires. (That same day Khan also led an anti-drone rally in Islamabad with his visiting ex-wife, Jemima.) Shortly before Khan spoke on Sunday, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement had mobilized a typically large demo in Karachi to snarl at Sharif for his diatribe against President Asif Ali Zardari. By the time Khan finally did speak—hours after the enthused faithful, the curious, and the hopeful had been dutifully gathered—all eyes were on him.
“You are very lazy,” Khan told Lahore. “It takes a long time to wake you up!” As far as wake-up calls go, the rally was a loud one. Fifteen years after founding the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Khan had well and truly arrived. The party said half million people attended the event, while a seemingly unnerved Sharif spokesman put the figure at between “40,000 to 50,000” and dismissed the Khan show as “not very good.”
So gnarled was traffic that it took me hours to get to Iqbal Bagh. Along the way one saw families with boxed lunches in hatchbacks as if they were headed to a picnic, bearded men and their burqa-clad betters on motorbikes, coed vans with iPod-listening boys and girls, sinewy young labor riding crammed trucks, cacophonous buses with silken PTI colors pouring out the windows. All of them bound in common direction, sharing the same destination.
There were 20 or so of us old timers who parked ourselves on a rooftop with a panoramic view of Iqbal Bagh. With me at the vantage point were members of the Muslim League (Quaid), now a coalition partner with Zardari’s PPP, and the Jamaat-e-Islami. They seemed worried. The Jamaat member kept shaking his head as we all watched the park fill up—even when we thought it couldn’t possibly accommodate any more people. “This is a game changer,” he muttered. By his estimate, at one point there were about 350,000 people at the event not counting the thousands we could see trying to wend their way in still.
Judging by how the event was organized, Khan’s party is not a badly-oiled machine. The venue had been sprayed for mosquitoes, the security was light and affable, and around the park there were closed-circuit cameras, food stalls, well-thought-out seating enclosures, even a red carpet. There were no fights or reported harassment of women. There were pop stars galore rousing the crowds. The traffic jams were tolerated in good humor. And Khan didn’t take behind a bulletproof glass to speak. Yes, this was not your usual political jalsa.
Undoubtedly, Khan’s newfound aura of imminence will attract electables from other parties over to his PTI—even if this does not fit with how Khan concluded the festivities: “Change is not coming, change is here!”
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Tuesday, November 8, 2011
One of the Best Clip Ever Recorded On Pakistani Politics (All Time Classic!)
Imran Khan asks Faisal Raza Abidi where did Asif Zardari got $60 Million. Abidi doesn't have an answer and he tries avoid it in the funniest way.
Boxing ex-world champion Joe Frazier dies
Former world heavyweight boxing champion Joe Frazier has died after a brief battle with liver cancer, his family said.
Frazier - also known as Smokin' Joe - had been receiving hospice care in Philadelphia after being diagnosed with cancer several weeks ago.
The 67-year-old was the first man to beat Muhammad Ali in 1971, but lost his next two bouts with Ali.
He held the world title between 1970 and 1973.
On Saturday, Frazier's manager Leslie Wolf said the boxer's condition was very serious but that doctors and Frazier's team were "doing everything we can".
Frazier won an Olympic gold medal in 1964 after going to the Games as a replacement for Buster Mathis, who had beaten him in the trials but could not attend the Games due to an injury.
He won the heavyweight title in 1970 by defeating Jimmy Ellis in New York. Three years later he lost the title to George Foreman.
But the boxer is perhaps most widely-known for three great fights with Ali, including the epic "Thrilla in Manila" in 1975.
After hearing about Frazier's illness, Ali, 69, said: "The news about Joe is hard to believe and even harder to accept."
"My family and I are keeping Joe and his family in our daily prayers. Joe has a lot of friends pulling for him - and I'm one of them," he said on Sunday.
Frazier retired in 1976 after being beaten again by Foreman. He then made an unsuccessful comeback in 1981, fighting only once before ending his career for good.
Conrad Murray guilty of Michael Jackson manslaughter
The judge told the court he was remanding Conrad Murray in custody without bail because he was a convicted felon and a flight risk
Michael Jackson's personal physician, Dr Conrad Murray, has been found guilty of the involuntary manslaughter of the star by a jury in Los Angeles.
A panel of seven men and five women took two days of deliberation to reach a verdict.
Michael Jackson died on 25 June 2009 from an overdose of the powerful anaesthetic propofol.
Murray, 58, could now receive a maximum prison term of four years and lose his licence to practise medicine.
There was a shriek in the courtroom as the verdict was read.
Outside the courthouse, the BBC's Peter Bowes said that at the moment the verdict was read, the crowd along the street erupted with cheers and chanting.
Jackson's family sat in the courtroom, weeping quietly.
LaToya Jackson told the Associated Press news agency the family was overjoyed at the verdict.
"Michael was looking over us," she said.
During the trial, Dr Murray's lawyers argued that Jackson self-administered a lethal dose of the drug while he was out of the room.
Dr Murray was remanded in custody without bail until he receives his sentence, set for 29 November.
Explaining his decision, the judge said Dr Murray was now a convicted felon and had considerable ties outside the state of California, meaning he could not guarantee that the doctor would remain in the state.
Dr Murray sat silently in court, shifting slightly in his seat as the verdict was read out.
Court officers began to handcuff the physician as the judge made his final announcements, before leading him away into custody.
'Drug addict'
The jury - made up of one African American, six whites and five Hispanics - deliberated on Friday and through the morning on Monday.
Outside the court, fans of Michael Jackson were cheering and chanting, "Guilty! Guilty!" in the run-up to the verdict being announced.
During the six-week trial, 49 witnesses and more than 300 pieces of evidence were presented to the court.
Michael Jackson, who had been out of the public eye for several years, died in 2009 as he was preparing for a series of comeback performances at the O2 arena in London.
In his closing argument last Thursday, the prosecution said Dr Murray had caused the star's death through negligence, depriving Jackson's children of their father and the world of a "genius".
The defence argued that Jackson was a drug addict who caused his own death by giving himself an extra dose of propofol while the cardiologist was out of the room at the star's rented mansion in Los Angeles.
However, lawyers for Dr Murray dropped a key argument midway through the trial - that the pop superstar had drunk the propofol. But they continued to argue that Jackson had somehow dosed himself otherwise.
Each side of the trial called their own expert witness on the anaesthetic drug,
There is no law against administering propofol, but the prosecution's case rested on the argument that Dr Murray was grossly negligent by doing so outside a hospital setting and without the proper monitoring equipment.
In some of the more shocking moments of the trial, the jury heard a recording of Jackson, sounding incoherent and slurred, speaking about his upcoming concert series, as well as viewing a photo of a lifeless Jackson on a gurney.
