March the 16th 2009 would go down in the history of Pakistan as a day when the crumbling hopes of a brighter future for Pakistan suddenly took a brighter turn, amid street protests and the Long March towards Islamabad, when the Prime Minister announced reinstatement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry. The address, which was supposed to be at 2 am Pakistan Time, was late by many hours but the subtext was true to the rumors that had been circulating in Pakistan all day. Suddenly, the entire nation was jubilant - the whole environ changed from despair to hope for a better future. The deposed CJ takes charge of his office on 21st March when the term of sitting CJ Mr Dogar expires. For now, Pakistan badly needs an independent judiciary - let us wait and see if this dream comes true in days to come.
3rd March 2009 will be remembered as a unforgiving day in the history of International Cricket and that of Pakistan when a bunch of gunmen masked gunmen armed with rifles and rocket launchers ambushed the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team near Liberty Market, Lahore, wounding at least two players and killing five police officers. Footage from the scene Tuesday showed the team’s white van with its front window shattered as security officials tried to gain control of the scene in an intersection. Security concerns have plagued Pakistan for years and some foreign sports teams have refused to play here. Quite obviously the visitors hurriedly packed and left for home in an chartered plane and thus plunged any hopes of revival of cricket in Pakistan - at least for now. On the other hand, the terrorists, regardless of their grievances, have succeeded in crushing national morale and also eliciting a passive ambivalence from our populace, who have no idea how to deal with such terrorists, except at the most, verbally condemn their actions. Who is behind the scene, only time will tell. May be it is an Indian revenge of Mumbai mayhem, or TTL's response to Sri Lankan governments tightening of the noose around them or even local Taliban. And if these are from within, then the terrorist safe-havens where terrorists OR their sympathizers are present, should be mowed down with extreme prejudice by utilizing all resources at the disposal of the State, the armed forces and other security forces. Any action started right now, would have reasonably widespread public support. The President, PM and lawmakers need to stress that the militants do not wish Pakistan well and we cannot afford to be ambivalent anymore towards how to deal with them. No one has the right to take a life and challenge the writ of the state, regardless of the enormity of their grievances. We have already wasted much time looking for ad hoc solutions.