Freedom Fighters and Sandwiches

A World Turned?

Not that long ago at the 57th United Nations General Assembly at New York in September 2002, General Musharraf stood up and vocally thundered about the Kashmiri freedom struggle. In front of the assembled world leadership, he insisted on differentiating between ‘freedom fighters’ and ‘terrorists’.

And, over the years, India repeatedly accused us of supporting ‘terrorism’ in Kashmir We, in turn, adamantly rejected the notion of ‘terrorism’ and instead insisted that these were heroic acts committed by determined freedom fighters who wished to liberate their land from Indian occupation.

And so to last Sunday in Delhi.

The General, while addressing a group of Indian editors, began condemning the Kashmiris trying to violently disrupt the newly launched Kashmir bus service. And what did he call them? umm...I think he called them :' terrorists'.

Ouch!
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The Sandwich in a Jam

I am sure Sami-ul-Haq is hopping mad at the treatment dished out to him by the Belgians. First he was reportedly detained at the airport for three hours and then members of the EU parliament publicly boycotted him. No doubt the Maulana will be furiously hopping back to Akora Khattak and continue with his policy of openly:
- supporting Osama bin Laden
- supporting Mulla Omar and the Taliban
- encouraging holy jihad until all the ‘evil forces’ are defeated.
- expressing a view that Christians and Jews are ‘kafirs’
- denying rights of equality to women and minorities

Now to the pertinent question: Why should an ‘evil’ western country - which happens to espouse democracy, freedom of expression and speech, religious tolerance, and equality of gender - have the impudence to block Maulana sahib’s visit?

Sad to say, as every green passport holder knows, every country insists on retaining its right to deny entry to any foreign national it wishes to.

(And, in all honesty, why should a country that upholds the ideals of democracy, equality and human rights show even a modicum of tolerance for someone who advocates a violent destruction of everything that country's society stands for.)

Pakistan
Sami-ul-Haq
musharraf