Check this article on business week about pakistani citizens protesting on Internet.

MOVEMENT FOR THE INDEPENDENCE (MIND)

 OF JUDICIARY, MEDIA, CIVIL SOCIETY

 

FIRST GRAND AND UNIFIED

PEACEFUL PROTEST IN ISLAMABAD

Of

All the sections of the civil society

Lawyers, students, journalists, traders, transporters, doctors, engineers, businessmen, professionals, NGOs employees, human rights activists, government servants , retired soldiers, politicians, housewives, labour unions,

and

Conscientious citizens

 

November 14, Wednesday

3 30 p.m.

Aabpara Chowk

 

In the form of

 

FLOWER AND BLACK BAND SHOW

 

FINAL BATTLE

Between human rights and martial law

Between civilization and barbarism

Between rule of law and rule of army

Between going ahead or going back to dark ages

 

WHOEVER WILL WIN, WILL SURVIVE

 

Give up criminal indifference

Stand up and be counted

Change the course of history

Or history would never forgive you

Convince your family and friends

Convince everyone

 

Time to give up selfish personal interests

And also to give up individual differences

Stand Up and be counted

Make yourself, your family and your generations safe

Struggle for Rule of Law

Struggle for the Independence of Judiciary

 

Forward this message to everyone you know through

Emails

SMS

Word of mouth

Posters

Phone calls

 

If you have any friends or relatives

in any school, college, university or institution

kindly forward this message to them

and coordinate for the protest

 

Traders Organisations

Labour Unions in CDA, OGDCL, PTCL, IESCO and other organisations

 

Also convey the message to

Members of

District Bar Association Islamabad

 

Time to wake up

The judges who said no to PCO

Have been made hostages in their own houses

They have been fighting for your liberties

Now it's your turn to fight for their liberation

 

We don't ask much from you

Do at least the minimum

 

COME AND JOIN US

On

3 30 p.m.

Aabpara Chowk

Islamabad

 

November 14, Wednesday

 

WEARING A BLACK BAND TO PROTEST

Against the state oppression

Against the suspension of civil rights

Against the martial law

Against the treatment meted out to defiant judges

Against the nation being treated as herd of animals

Against being the one of the two countries in the whole world to be ruled by Army

Against the "sab se pehle sadr-e-Pakistan " concept

Against the "Sadr-e-Pakistan First concept"

Against those who took oath under PCO

Against the suspension of transmission of private tv channels

Against the curbs on media

 

AND

 

BRING A FLOWER TO PAY HOMAGE

to the judges who said no to PCO

to the judges who have been put to house arrest

to the lawyers who have been put behind the bars

to the media who is fighting our case and is facing blackout and business losses

to the journalist raising awareness

to the politicians and the political workers who have been arrested

to the human rights activists who have been apprehended

to the teachers and students in the forefront of protests

to anyone who is listening to his conscience

 

He promised to give up his uniform by November 15

And even submitted an affi davit to the Supreme Court to this effect

This time we would not let him go back from his promise yet again

We would silently remind him of his promise on

November 14

 

REMEMBER

To be right on time

 We have to readily assemble there and protest

Before the police arrives

They wouldn't allow us

No matter how peaceful we will be

So be religiously in time!

 

Come with your family

 Come with your kids

We need to show "him" our numbers

Your inaction helps him boast that

The silent majority is with him

We need to break his myth

 

 During the protest

Do not block the road

Let the traffic pass by

So that you do not cause inconvenience to general public

And more and more people see your protest

 

Bosses are especially requested to let their employees have an early break on the day,

so that they could also join us in the protest

 

If you have any friend or relative or acquaintance in

Print and electronic media

Ask him to join us in the protest

And also cover the same for his or her newspaper or media channel

 

Read this mail over and over again

Take a print and use it as posters

Paste it everywhere you can

Circulate it as handbills

 

And

Above all

 

LET THIS MAIL SPREAD AS WILD FIRE

 

Forward it to as many people as you can

Forward it to everyone you know

Ask others to do the same

 Individual and small protests cannot do much

We need networking

We cannot afford delay

The time is already running out

Hurry up

And come into action as soon as you receive this mail!

See you on November 14

INSHALLAH

By Imran Khan

 

The imposition of martial law under the garb of emergency should make it
abundantly clear to everyone that dictators cannot afford even a semblance
of either an independent judicial system or a free media. And neither can
the assortment of criminals camouflaged as politicians who collaborate with
dictators.

 

No one is fooled by Gen. Musharaf's latest deception to hang on to power.
The war on terror has served him well so far and so why change a successful
strategy; spread fear in the western capitals by invoking images of bearded
men with guns and in the meanwhile brutally crush all dissent within the
country, as was recently done by the Burmese Military. Having inducted
pliant and amoral judges through the PCO, the next step would be to
massively rig the elections while keeping the media muzzled. What he hopes
is that he will again have a rubber stamp Assembly, a controlled majority
and a friendly opposition, while real power will rest with him for another 5
years.

 

So, what we are witnessing is the first phase of the plan. Massive crackdown
on the genuine opposition, lawyers, human right activists and the civil
society. He is hoping that the police brutality will induce enough fear in
the people for him to crush all dissent within a couple of weeks, before he
takes the next step of getting himself endorsed by his pocket judges.

 

Unfortunately for Musharraf, everyone can see through his latest power grab
attempt. No one believes that the judges were an impediment in his fight
against terrorism. He has had absolute power for the last 8 years and yet
terrorism and militancy is rising rapidly. What is he going to do that is
different? He has had Pakistanis abducted and handed over to the U.S
authorities without allowing them their right to prove their innocence in a
court of law. Others have simply disappeared. Many tortured. Our own people
have been bombed by helicopters and jets and when women and children have
been killed, it has been shamefully called "collateral damage". No one to
this day knows how many Pakistani (soldiers and civilians) have been killed
since 9/11.

 

Most significantly his liberal credentials stand exposed completely,
something he needed to make his dictatorship palatable to the west. Gimmicks
like "enlightened moderation", "soft image" and "sufi Islam" stood exposed
as the nation saw police boots and sticks shower on peaceful human rights
protestors, lawyers and the media. All laws whether it was through PEMRA,
PCOs, the 17th amendment or the disgraceful NRO were only to consolidate his
power.

 

The time has come for the people of Pakistan to decide their destiny. If
Musharraf succeeds in destroying the independent judiciary through his PCO,
then I am afraid it is all down hill. His "pocket" judges will assist him in
suppressing the media and in rigging the elections.

 

A Government formed from this unholy alliance will be a disaster for
Pakistan and will ensure that it heads towards becoming a failed state.

 

For a start there will be a quantum leap in terrorism. His policies have
alienated the Pushtuns in general and the tribal Pushtuns in particular.
There are around a million armed men in the tribal areas. Does it make any
logical sense that to capture a couple of thousand Al-Qaeeda we invoke the
hostility of around a million armed men - all natural guerilla fighters? And
that is why history tells us the British lost more soldiers in the tribal
areas than the whole of the sub-continent during their Raj.

 

Moreover fundamentalism is on the rise in most of Northern Pakistan because
of Musharraf's "enlightened moderate" media policies. There is great
reaction amongst the masses who perceive this as a license to be vulgar. The
Lal Masjid "warriors" belonged to this category. While in Swat & Dir, there
has been a rising discontentment due to the poor governance system ever
since the two regions became a part of Pakistan in 1974. Thanks to
Musharraff being perceived as an American Stooge imposing an anti-Islamic
agenda on the country, all these movements are morphing into one.

 

Another five years of Musharraff will mean that certain discontented
sections of the society  will lose faith in the democratic process and will
also join the militants; thereby raising the prospects of Pakistan turning
into another Algeria - the Army against its own people.

 

The other disaster of Musharraff dictatorship would be a further diversion
of the country's resources away from the people. During his 8 years 1.8% of
the GDP was spent on education - the lowest ever in our history and
consequently today Pakistan's state school education system has collapsed.
According to the U.N Human Development Index Pakistan has the worst social
indicators in South Asia. Even Burma is ahead. On the other hand in 2006
Pakistan spent US $ 5.1 billion on arms. A new GHQ is being built on 2500
acres in Islamabad at the cost of billions of dollars.

 

Equally disastrous is the collapse of governance in Pakistan. According to
Transparency International this is the most corrupt Government in our
history. Hardly surprising since crooks, criminals and even terrorists
(according to the Canadian Supreme Court the MQM is a terrorist
organization) are sitting at the helm of affairs. The biggest scams in our
history have been during the past 5 years. Rs.55 billion loans to the rich
and powerful have been waived off while the common man has been crushed by
unprecedented inflation.

 

Hence it is imperative that all sections of Pakistani society stand behind
Chief Justice Iftikhar and demand his restoration along with the other
honourable judges. We should not accept the PCO or those judges who have
taken oath by it.

 

Only if Justice Iftikhar is restored will we have an independent judiciary,
which is the bedrock of a genuine democratic system. The independent
judiciary will protect the media's freedom and ensure free and fair
elections that are vital for the country's survival only.  Free and fair
elections can throw up a Government that can start a political dialogue with
the Militants. The war against terrorism can only be won if the people from
within whom the terrorists operate, also consider them to be terrorists. If
on the other hand they are perceived as heroes or freedom fighters than it
is a never ending war - and history tells us that it cannot be won.
Moreover, a democratic Government which comes through free and fair
elections has to invest in the people. Otherwise no matter how high the
growth rate it will lose the elections - as happened to the BJP despite
"shining India"

 

Above all only an independent judiciary will stop criminals from entering
politics. At the moment they know that once they are part of the power
structure they are safe from the courts. The NRO is a classic case in point
which under Musharraff's pocket judges will absolve politicians of their
crimes that includes plunder of the country's resources as well as
assassinations and target killings.  Once a P.M. or President are not above
law only then can this country develop a governance system that will make it
achieve its great potential.

 

What needs to be done is for all sections of the society - especially the
students whose future is at stake, to demand the restoration of Chief
Justice Iftikhar and a total boycott of the PCO judges. Until our demands
are accepted we should agitate throughout the country. The APDM should
immediately give a call to its workers to join the lawyers and the civil
society in the streets.

 

And finally it brings me to Benazir and Maulana Fazal ur Rehman. They are
the only two "opposition" leaders who are allowed to freely roam around. The
former is even given protocol. Both of them have played a major role in
strengthening Musharraff by undermining the opposition at every stage. Both
have used the opposition to strengthen their bargaining position with the
Government for their personal ends. Most regretfully neither has demanded
the restoration of Chief Justice Iftikhar. The APDM should tell them that we
have had enough of their "Noora Khushti". If they want to be part of the
genuine opposition both must demand the restoration of Chief Justice
Iftikhar and announce a street movement immediately. But they should not be
allowed to sabotage the opposition movement for their personal gains again.