Husain Haqqani

Is Husain Haqqani one of the best living Hindustani leaders?

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AnAn

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Kabir
6 years ago

HH is a deeply problematic person (though yes, he speaks sense sometimes). He was supposed to be the Pakistani Ambassador to the US. As such he was supposed to represent the views of the Pakistani government (that’s what Ambassadors do. Which is why I could never be a diplomat of any country. I want the freedom to represent my own views). The joke was that he was the “US Ambassador to Washington” rather than the Pakistani one. HH is also the kind of person who has a record of going with whoever is in power and whoever can help advance his career. He used to be an “islamist” and was with PML-N (look this up), then he was a “liberal” and was with Benazir. Now he’s anti-Pakistan and in the US camp. What will be his next avatar one wonders? He’s the very definition of “native informant”.

In any case, there are charges against him in Pakistan regarding “Memogate”. He should be asked to come back and face justice (as should General Mush and anyone else who is absconding from the courts).

Kabir
6 years ago
Reply to  AnAn

Closer India-Pakistan relations are not the issue. Nawaz Sharif favors closer India-Pakistan relations. He hugged Modiji at the airport! (And the boys in uniform were not happy about that let me tell you…) Shahbaz Sharif is big on Punjab-Punjab interaction. He knows it’s what Pakistan needs to develop.

HH is working with Lisa Curtis of the Heritage Foundation on how the US should “punish” Pakistan. Trust me, there are very few Pakistanis who like this man.

Plus, as I mentioned, if you used to be with Nawaz Sharif, then moved to be with his sworn enemy, Shaheed Benazir, then moved to be with the Hudson Institute, what does that say about you? Opportunist is a kind word.

Kabir
6 years ago

Pakistan’s Supreme Court gives the government 30 days to bring Husain Haqqani back to face justice.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1398046/

Kabir
6 years ago
Reply to  AnAn

Pakistan needs military parity with our “enemy” India. As long as your Army chief talks about fighting a “two front war” (Pakistan and China), we will do what is necessary to defend the homeland. In any case, I don’t make policy for the Pakistan Army.

My point in sharing this link was that this is breaking news today. The highest court in the land has asked the government to ensure HH comes home to face justice. If he is still a Pakistani national, then he must face justice, just like all other Pakistani nationals (including General Musharraf for his unconstitutional military coup). If HH has acquired foreign citizenship, than nothing can be done and the question is moot.

I’m done with this discussion. Let’s see what the Pakistani government does.

P.S. For many Pakistanis (not me personally), crossing the Army is indeed treason.

Kabir
6 years ago
Reply to  AnAn

Don’t worry about whether we “transform into a Jihadi-free….”. That is an intra-Pakistani discussion. It is up to us what kind of a Muslim country we want to be and what kind of interpretations of Islam we want to live by. It is extremely condescending to hear from an Indian’s mouth what kind of a country Pakistan should be. For the record, I do think religion has too much place in public life. But that is something for me to discuss with my countrymen.

China is not going to attack Pakistan. China is giving us lots of money and developing Gwadar (CPEC). Russia is not going to attack Pakistan. I don’t think Iran has any intention of attacking Pakistan. The only country we need to worry about is India, where people talk about “surgical strikes” and crossing Pakistan’s borders. Please try. Pakistan Army is there to make sure that no Indian misadventures happen. That is why we have troops on the LOC and the Working Boundary between Pakistani Punjab and “J and K”. As for nuclear weapons, they didn’t stop India and Pakistan from going to war in Kargil.

As long as India invests in military technology which we think is supposed to be used against us, we will invest in military technology to use against India. That’s just reality.

I would not mention Gujarat to a Pakistani ever again. That was where your current PM carried out a pogrom against the Muslim minority. Don’t get me started. Rushdie has an essay entitled “March 2002: God in Gujarat” (pgs. 344-346 in “Step Across This Line”). It is far more scathing about BJP and Hindutva than I could ever be. Read it and weep. Sir Salman says it better than I ever could

Kabir
6 years ago
Reply to  AnAn

“There is only one religion the religion of love. There is only one language, the language of the heart. There is only one country, the country of humanity. ”

This is sweet but it’s not reality. Perhaps I’m much more cynical than you.

Pakistan and India are “enemies”. I’m not endorsing this, but this is reality. Do I wish it wasn’t this way? Of course. In 1965, the Indians almost captured Lahore. It was our brave soldiers who made sure Lahore is still a Pakistani city and still a part of our heartland. Excuse me if I am slightly suspicious of Bharat’s intentions. Bharat broke Pakistan into two in 1971. Mrs. G. was very proud of that fact. So we don’t trust you and we have good reasons not to trust you. Changing attitudes requires dialogue. And dialogue is not happening (thanks to stupidity on both sides).

When Modi ji boasts of “surgical strikes” in AJK (there is some debate whether our border was crossed or not–Pak Army says it wasn’t. I have no idea), how do you think Pak Army is going to respond? In any case, Pakistan’s security policy is made by Pak Army, not by the civilian government and not by me. The Army sees India (Bharat) as its eternal enemy.

I have relatives who fought India in the various wars (mother’s side). I also have relatives in India (father’s side). My maternal great-aunt used to start crying whenever anyone criticized Pak Army. It’s a real thing. That was a bit of an extreme reaction, but many people in Pakistan adore the Army and will not hear a word against them.

Pakistan is a complicated place….

As for “Jihadis”, neither the PML-N nor the Pak Army is going to let Pakistan fall to “Jihadis”. We just give the mullahs a few things they want and keep them under control. It’s worked so far…

Abdul
Abdul
6 years ago

Having read HH’s three books (Pakistan: between Mosque and military, Magnificient Delusions, and India vs Pakistan: Why Can’t we just be friends) and having met him once in DC, I have a few things to say about him. One of my areas of interest is Pakistan’s political history in the 1990s (and I wrote a series of articles for Dawn Urdu about that particular period), a time during which HH was a prominent figure. Yes, he can be described as a turn-coat (JI->Nawaz->PPP->Tried a hand at getting a ministry from Musharraf and his Op-Ed in WaPo soon after Trump became Pres extolling how HH played an instrumental role in helping Us get OBL) and someone with a silver tongue. However, most of what he wrote in books holds true as you can construct your own opinions but not your own facts. The India-Pakistan rivalry is a constructed myth to sustain military’s supremacy over political affairs in Pakistan. Starting from 1947 Kashmir war till this day, Pakistan’s policy towards India and other neighbors had been determined not by elected officials or Foreign Service bureaucrats but by narrow-minded military men.

Kabir
6 years ago
Reply to  Abdul

I’ve met HH in DC as well and heard him speak. He is personally a nice man. That doesn’t mean he is not deeply problematic in Pakistan. My limited point is that the Supreme Court has asked the government to bring him back to face justice for the crimes he has been charged with. If he is still a Pakistani national, then he should come back and face justice.

“The India Pakistan rivalry is a constructed myth”– that’s a little simplistic. The Congress Party didn’t think Pakistan would last 10 years. There have been four wars and India did have a hand in breaking East Pakistan away (not that we were handling that situation very well on our own). Those four wars are objective facts. The territorial dispute over India-held Kashmir is an objective fact.

The military does have an outsized role in foreign policy, which is not their job. That is another objective fact on which I agree with you.

Brown Pundits