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appointment music Museum
and memory Fond
farewell
appointment Pakistan’s premier spy
agency — Inter Service Intelligence — is set to get a new director
general as Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha seems to have fallen out of favour not
only with the president and prime minister also with the army chief,
especially in the aftermath of the Memogate scandal which has backfired
badly. Pasha is set to retire on
March 18, 2012, after being given two extensions by the Zardari-led
government in March 2009 and March 2010, largely on the advice of General
Ashfaq Kayani. Pasha was appointed DG ISI on September 29, 2008, replacing
Lt Gen Nadeem Taj, who was appointed by General Pervez Musharraf. But Nadeem
Taj had to be removed under the US pressure after being accused of resorting
to double dealing with militants. Nadeem had been appointed the ISI chief in
place of the General Ashfaq Kayani, who had served as spy chief under
Musharraf from October 2004 to October 2007. Kayani had chosen Pasha
for a variety of reasons, but the most important among them was his being
green-lit by the Americans. Also, Pasha had served, just like Kayani, as
Director General of the Military Operations (DGMO) — a stint from 2006 to
2008 where he had overseen the entire ambit of military engagements.
Pasha’s appointment was part of a wider shake-up by Kayani to bring in his
trusted aides by replacing those appointed by Musharraf. But the fact remains that
Pasha was also the moving spirit behind the Memogate which has clearly left
the country’s military establishment deeply embarrassed besides causing
serious tensions between the political and military elite. The scandal
involved a dubious Mansoor Ijaz claiming that the Pakistan government had
sought the Obama administration’s help to stave off a feared military coup
following bin Laden’s May 2, 2011, killing in a US commando operation in
Abbottabad. Pasha came under heavy criticism when Osama was found living in
Pakistan [for the past five years], hardly a kilometre from the prestigious
Kakul Military Academy, located in a high-security garrison town on the edge
of Islamabad.
In the whole process,
Pasha simply bypassed the prime minister and behaved as if he was not
answerable to the civilian setup. The Memogate scam
eventually forced Hussain Haqqani to quit, besides prompting the Supreme
Court to appoint a high-level judicial commission to investigate the alleged
role of President Asif Zardari. However, as the commission took up the case
and asked Mansoor Ijaz to come to Pakistan and prove his allegations, he
first dilly-dallied and finally refused to appear before the commission,
citing security reasons. Finally recording his statement at Pakistan’s
High Commission in London, Mansoor Ijaz literally turned the tables on Ahmed
Shuja Pasha by accusing him of having toured some Arab countries after the
May 2 Abbottabad raid, primarily to discuss a military coup against the PPP
government. As if this
allegation was not enough to embarrass Pasha, Mansoor Ijaz further claimed
that US pilots and Pakistani Air Traffic Control were in contact with each
other before the May 2 raid, suggesting that the Pakistani military
leadership had prior knowledge of the operation in which Osama was killed.
He also spoke about a communication between the president and the army chief
which they have both refuted. Indeed, Pasha’s tenure
as ISI chief will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. It was hardly a
few weeks after his appointment that a group of 11 terrorists belonging to
Lashkar-e-Taiba and allegedly trained by ISI, travelled by sea all the way
from Karachi to Mumbai to carry out the 26/11 attacks, killing 172
civilians, including foreigners.
Another major charge
against Pasha is his overwhelming involvement in national politics to weaken
the elected government. While making public US diplomatic cables in December
2010, Wikileaks had quoted Interior Minister Rehman Malik as telling then US
ambassador Anne Patterson that it was not General Ashfaq Kayani but Ahmed
Shuja Pasha who was hatching conspiracies against President Asif Zardari.
But Patterson was certain that the ISI chief could not do it alone. The government circles say
Pasha stands zero chance of getting any further extension, although he had
exploited the Memogate to pressurise the government into yielding to his
craving. PML-N President Nawaz Sharif has also asked the government not to
grant Pasha another extension. Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan opposed his extension
in the National Assembly. The appointment of a new
ISI chief has assumed greater significance against the backdrop of the
civil-military tensions. While in theory, the country’s premier
intelligence agency falls under the jurisdiction of the prime minister being
the chief executive of the country who can even appoint a civilian to head
the agency, in practice, the ISI falls within the army’s chain of command.
But the government sources say although the prime minister has the
constitutional authority to appoint the ISI chief, he would leave it to
General Kayani to name Pasha’s successor. In fact, two past attempts by
Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to appoint
lieutenant generals closer to their governments as spy masters had simply
backfired. Benazir Bhutto appointed
Lt General (retd) Shamsur Rahman Kallu (May 1989-August 1990) while Nawaz
Sharif appointed Lt Gen Ziauddin Butt (October 1998-October 1999) as ISI
chiefs. But both the moves only led to strained ties between the civilian
government and the security establishment. While Shamsur Rahman Kallu died
of a heart attack without completing his term, Ziauddin Butt was arrested by
General Pervez Musharraf’s administration when he toppled the Sharif
government in October 1999. As the country’s
military and political elite has decided to get rid of Pasha and bring in a
new face to head the ISI, front runners among those tipped to take over
include eight lieutenant generals and two major generals. Those who have
already been short-listed include Corps Commander Karachi, Lt Gen Zaheerul
Islam (due to retire on October 1, 2014), Corps Commander Lahore, Lt Gen
Rashid Mahmood (due to retire on April 9, 2014), Corps Commander Peshawar,
Lt General Khalid Rabbani (due to retire on October 1, 2014), Corps
Commander Rawalpindi, Lt Gen Khalid Nawaz Khan (due to retire on October 4,
2013), Corps Commander Mangla, Lt Gen Tariq Khan (due to retire on October
1, 2014), Chief of General Staff Lt Gen Waheed Arshad (due to retire on
April 9, 2014), Director General Joint Staff Lt Gen Muhammad Asif (due to
retire on April 15, 2015), Adjutant General at GHQ Lt Gen Javed Iqbal (due
to retire on April 15, 2015), Director General of the Military Intelligence
(MI) Maj Gen Naushad Kayani and last but not the least, the deputy director
general of ISI, Maj Gen Sahibzada Isfandiyar Ali Khan Pataudi.
Well-informed khaki
circles say Corps Commander Karachi, Lt Gen Zaheerul Islam, has bright
chances of being selected for the slot, keeping in view his experience in
the ISI (as the head of the spy agency’s internal wing that deals with
counter-intelligence and domestic issues) before his promotion to the rank
of a 3-star general and his subsequent appointment as commander Karachi last
year. Coming from a military family of Punjab province, Islam enjoys a
rapport with General Kayani. But it is believed that
Adjutant General Lt Gen Javed Iqbal has an equal chance of being selected,
mainly because of his having served as Director General Military Operations
(DGMO) before becoming Adjutant General. But there are those in the
establishment circles who do not rule out the possibility of Kayani
elevating the incumbent director general of the Military Intelligence, Maj
Gen Naushad Kayani, as the next ISI director general by promoting him to the
rank of lieutenant general to make him eligible for the top slot. However, the deputy
director general of ISI, Maj Gen Sahibzada Isfandiyar Ali Khan Pataudi,
could well become the dark horse due to his personal friendship with Kayani.
Coming from the famous Pataudi family of the Indo-Pak subcontinent (which
made its mark in the fields of showbiz and cricket, both in India and
Pakistan); Isfandiyar is an accomplished polo player and chairman of the
Pakistan Polo Association. Pataudi’s close aides say his closeness with
General Kayani, coupled with his liberal outlook and distinguished family
background, could go to his advantage. An armoured corps officer, Isfandiyar,
however, first needs to get a promotion to the rank of lieutenant general to
become an eligible contender for the top slot.
Once the names of serious
music lovers were counted, that of Lutfullah Khan echoed like zabaan-e-khalq
and naqara-e-khuda. His name figured somewhere on the top. And it had to be at the
very top because he dedicated his life to the collection of sound, in
particular music. In the days when internet and websites like µTorrent had
not made the transfer and accessibility of sound that easy, the archival
treasure trove of music was difficult to access and listen to. But the mystery remained
among the lovers of music, particularly those interested in collection and
archiving as to how big his collection was. This mystery was more out of
jealousy or perhaps envy because in this twin response of jealousy and envy
lies a silent comparison with one’s own collection. And till the very end,
it was difficult to tell exactly about the quantity of Luftullah’s
collection. The collectors are by
nature secretive and though
they talk about their collection nineteen to a dozen, they do not make it
accessible to the lay fan or connoisseurs of music. Some let out very
grudgingly as if to whet the appetite, a sample of a rare recording but the
full exposure to the archives is always averted. So, till the very end, it
always remained a mystery because some of the details of the archives were
made public or some were leaked out by those who claimed they had been told
so or had seen it all. But these claims were
always received with disbelief attached to it. There was always this lurking
suspicion that everything was not being disclosed, that some essential
information was being held back. That was playing upon the familiar paranoia
of fellow collectors. But it was also a
testament to his supposedly very large collection of sound recordings and
the more it was talked about the more mysterious it all became. It was also
a testament to his unrivalled passion for sound. He was so taken in by all
this that he devoted his entire life to the collection of sound. And most of
it, or some of it (not being privy to his entire collection), was personally
recorded by him. He had the master copy of some of the most sought-after
voices in the subcontinent. It happens, if a person
has a treasure of any kind, it gradually overtime is valued more than the
person himself. The name of Lutfullah Khan instantly brought the sound
archives to mind, it was talked about particularly on how the code of
accessibility could be cracked and ultimately what would become of it once
he is not around. There was an element of cruelty involved in this also
because what was being zeroed in was what the man had collected and not the
man himself. What would become of the treasure once he was not around? Would
it be seen in the flea market as one has seen the sorry endings of other
such collections? Now that he is no more,
the issue has gathered greater poignancy than ever before. Then it was aired
with a streak of cruelty, now it is tabled with apprehension. One had known
of repeated attempts at placing the archives in safe vaults of some public
institution. There were echoes of many negotiations being carried out, many
deals failing to finalise. At times it was heard that the price being asked
was too steep and at times it was said that he did not approve of his
collection being sold to an undeserving bidder. Whatever the case, the
reluctance on part of a lover to part with his beloved is a factor that
cannot be faulted. It is a true barometer of the intensity of love. And he
did love his lifelong toil that made him to run, slog and beseech for the
purposes of recording. From his books, it is
evident that with limited means, even scanter resources, he was able to
record the voices of some of the most outstanding personages of the last
century. It was his untiring effort and unflagging commitment that made him
persevere tirelessly in luring those men and women to the microphone. This was further certified
by his gracious appearance in a series of television programmes on his
labour of love. There, in person, he appeared as keen and passionate, as an
adolescent speaking with the verve about how some of the recordings took
place, relishing and savouring the moments spent so fully. It was difficult
to tell here was a man in his 90s betraying the passion of youth. But, even during and after
the programme, the query about the volume of his archives remained
unanswered. What was shown on television was significant but not significant
enough. It was clear that the reputation of the man did not rest on what he
disclosed. It was nestled somewhere in what he did not disclose. Hence, the
mystery lingered on till the very end. And what will happen to it
now is just as potent a question, as it ever was, not being shielded by the
callousness of placing it before the man himself. That it should be
preserved for the greater good of mankind may be a platitude but also the
best homage that can be paid to him. In a society that decries the past and
abhors capitalising on it, the sad tale of an individual prevailing over an
institution should not be played out yet again.
o matter what his
location, each human being is the curator of a museum. He carries within him
memories of the past, regularly cleaned, carefully positioned and lovingly
preserved. No one has access to that personal accumulation of events,
experiences and encounters with other individuals or memories except the
possessor himself. At some point, these
private matters become public; when a man decides to collect objects from
his past and display them in his surroundings. Artefacts, souvenirs,
domestic photographs, personal belongings, things left by ancestors and
gifts from friends are placed prominently in the living spaces. Pieces of
period furniture, exotic tapestries, expensive crockery and cutlery decorate
drawing rooms and lounges to convey the affluence and noble lineage. Memories, whether
virtually stored in the recesses of self or visibly shown at the house,
determine how one approaches the past, particularly the order in which one
selects certain segments and discards other, unwanted, entities. This
pattern of editing discloses the scheme of hierarchy within the chosen
items/entities, as some are preferred more and given a prominent place
compared to the rest. Actually, one can draw the personality sketch of a
person through the objects he gathers and the way these are arranged at his
place. Museum is a large-scale
house, which contains a nation or a society’s collective memory of the
past. Usually, history is viewed in a specific way; thus the past is
reconstructed according to the whims, designs and desires of the present.
Nations in different periods of their existence make a careful selection of
their past, emphasising glorious moments while neglecting or abandoning the
painful parts. In our context, too, people hardly mention details from
history which pose a contrast and conflict to the official version of our
society’s characteristics and feats through ages. Often, these are
misrepresented because the true account of incidents and
personalities/heroes may contradict the sanctified narrative of history. More than the desire to
sacrifice or deface history, we have acquired a tendency to avoid it. Our
behaviour towards the past is like that of a man with short memory. Perhaps
due to multiple complications in our political conditions and social
situations, we tend to forget our past or assume a naďve picture of it,
which is usually taught to our younger generation through history books. So,
most of us have acquired an attitude to evade and amend our personal,
national and universal past because there is no way to formulate a version
of history, that is objective, impartial and unbiased. Hence, what is
presented as past is actually an extension of the present — for the
future. The institution of museum
serves the same purpose. It brings together objects from past, which
illustrate (and forge) the ‘history’ of a society. But there is a
difference between general public and official bodies, when it comes to the
question of heritage here. Since art and culture have been low on priority
of the state, the decision of what should be shown to citizens in a museum
is of no real importance for the government, unless these contain political
stuff that challenge’s state’s supremacy and ideology. Thus museum
officials are more or less independent on matters of what to exhibit in that
public space. However, the general
population has a peculiar approach towards the institution of museum. When
people in Pakistan visit museums they may be shocked to find nude statues
from ancient times, which belonged to this region. Or just the fact of
seeing sculptures in galleries can surprise them, since for a majority of
them this kind of art is not permissible. So when they view these artefacts
and sculptures — occasionally with some erotic overtones — they may
consider these ‘foreign’ elements, which had nothing to do with their
history. Naked figurines from Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, bronze sculpture of
buxom women from Gupta period, and semi-clad male and female characters from
Taxila carved in stone are seen everyday by hundreds of visitors, mostly
Muslims and coming from ordinary backgrounds across the country; but one
wonders upon their reaction to these ‘inappropriate’ pieces of museum
exhibits. The general population
probably detach these objects, thinking them as from another period and
culture — as distant as China, Japan or Africa. So the totality of our
history is not owned, because these clash with the present moral and
national constructs. In this scenario the museums in our midst are not only
houses of ancient art and artefacts; they need to perform a task greater
than just preserving the past. They can communicate a broader notion of
past, which is not discarded; by linking the past exhibits with the present
pictorial practices. Perhaps a programme that connects the pieces from our
unacknowledged and forgotten history with works of art and craft from
contemporary times will make people realise that the past is not just a
distant and cut off entity, it relives in our own era. This is more important
because the visitors to a museum range from different walks of life,
especially those who never stepped into an art gallery or never opened a
book or publication on art and aesthetics. For them, museum can perform the
role of reminding our wider, diverse and artistic cultural heritage, only if
these are linked with their lives and experiences. In an identical scheme,
the works of art, especially paintings from the last 63 years and even
beyond, can be displayed in such a manner that for an ordinary viewer, these
can be more than just examples of an alien activity: high art. A rehanging of the museum
collection with the art and other visual objects from our epoch can
communicate the essence of art, of being relevant for all ages — to a
viewer from smaller cities who
otherwise never had a chance to relate to works of art which have somehow
become a luxury.
Dear All, It is time to say
farewell to Bush House, that iconic building dominating the southern end
of Kingsway and home to the BBC World By the end of this
summer, all sections of the World Service will have moved out of Bush
House and into a shiny new building near London’s Oxford Street (that
grand shopping mela that just goes on and on). The World Service just
celebrated its 80th birthday so we had a bit of a bittersweet celebration:
happy 80th plus goodbye Bush House. Older radio listeners might remember
some of the typical sounds punctuating our transmission: the bell chimes
of Big Ben, the delicious “This is London” announcement, the
energising beat of the Sports Roundup music, the lovely tabla beat opening
of the 8pm Urdu programme Sairbeen... Well, all these things
have changed and so must we. We will be in our new office ‘New
Broadcasting House’ this week, one of the first groups to move there.
And I suppose we will get used to the colourful modern interior and huge
windows and forget the quaint charm of Bush House and its wonderful
no-nonsense broadcast studios — so sensible and so efficient. I have worked at Bush
House for over a decade and almost every day that I have gone into work I
have reminded myself how lucky I was to work here. Bush House has changed
greatly over the years, I have seen it go from smoking to totally
non-smoking zone. At one point the Club bar in the basement was the only
room you could smoke in the entire building but even that changed. Senior,
now retired, predecessors remember a different Bush House: it may have
been during the Cold War but they all seemed to have had a jolly time:
smoke -filled rooms, and gambling and intellectual discourse —— all in
the office, and with some broadcasting thrown in between card rounds!! As we are off to new
beginning at a shiny, modern office on the West End, we say: farewell Bush
House and thanks for the memories... Best
wishes Umber
Khairi
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Despite
the glaring failure of the ISI to track down the world’s most wanted
terrorist, Pasha somehow managed to hold onto his position, eventually
“unearthing” the Memo scam a few months later. While investigating the
Memo without seeking any permission from the government, Pasha deemed it fit
to travel to London, meet with Mansoor Ijaz and persuade General Kayani to
take up the issue with the government, maintaining that the Memo compromised
Pakistan’s national security. 
Some
significant terrorist attacks were carried out during Pasha’s tenure and
described as the intelligence failures of the ISI. The ISI was also accused
of aiding the infamous Haqqani militant network to carry out the September
13, 2011 attack on the American Embassy in Kabul. During Ahmed Shuja
Pasha’s tenure, the ISI was also charged with involvement in large scale
disappearances and subsequent extra-judicial killings of the missing
persons. The agency further came under sharp criticism for its alleged
involvement in the May 29, 2011 kidnapping and subsequent murder of a senior
journalist, Syed Saleem Shahzad. The slain journalist had informed the Human
Rights Watch (HRW) in an email that should he be killed, the ISI should be
considered the principal suspect. 
Army
Chief General Kayani is expected to shortlist three names before the March
18 retirement of Pasha, which would be sent to the prime minister who will
choose one of them in consultation with the president. 
Service for so many decades.
