The spectacle of Shah Mahmood Qureshi being rearrested after release was not really an edifying one. Of course, we learnt later on that he had been arrested for his involvement in May 9 cases.
If we look at what is happening to former US President Donald Trump, we might begin to make sense of what is happening. It seems that the January 6 attack on US Congress is being treated as an insurrection against the Constitution, and the ban by the Fourteenth Amendment on anyone holding office after having taken oath to defend the Constitution includes contesting an election.
Of course, the matter will have to go to the US Supreme Court, where the majority of judges have been appointed by Republican presidents. So we should remember that the Fourteenth seems to be the USA’s sadiq o ameen provision. It seems the US armed forces have not profited by it to get rid of unpatriotic elements when they try to contest elections. Just as May 9 showed us where the country’s red line is, the USA is trying to show the red line it follows, which is the Constitution.
Of course, one of the problems with the Fourteenth Amendment is that it was not possible to find out where one qualified for it. Remember, Trump has not been convicted of any involvement in the January 6 insurrection, You can’t be not sadiq o ameen unless you’ve been convicted. (And for that, arrangements can be made. Unfortunately he’s dead, but Judge Arshad Malik knew a thing or two about videocams.) But Trump is being found by two states guilty of having been involved in an insurrection even after being impeached and acquitted. Two states have found him not guilty, by having put him on the primary ballot. Well, it has to go to the Supreme Court.
Of course, it seems that we’ve got a different red line. The Constitution, it seems, is not a red line. It wasn’t in 1958 or 1969, and not even with the current Constitution in 1977 or 1999. It seems the only difference the 1973 Constitution made was it was not abrogated or suspended, but just ‘held in abeyance.’ Corps Commanders’ residences are the new red line.
I wonder what the red line might be in Gaza. Of course, there’s no red line for Palestinians. They’re just there to be slaughtered, and the Israelis have got the death toll up to 17,000, and have reached any sort of line yet. That’s about 0.6 percent of the total Gazan population, so the Israelis have got their work cut out for therm, though they
There were no Gazans on the preload of people that France sent back to the UAE after it stopped there on a refuelling stop enroute to Nicaragua. The planeload comprised Indians who had been promised that they would be taken to the US border (the one with Mexico, where Trump had promised to build a wall), Had they been promised any help across the border?
Everyone knows that the USA is down on Indians after it tried to assassinate a Sikh activist, by paying a hitman (a moonlighting federal agent). Otherwise they would have sneaked them across.
It might be hard to believe, but there were no Pakistanis in the group. Somehow, it seems that whenever it is a matter of illegal migration, our boys are involved.
Iran recently did its bit for the Palestinian cause by executing four members of an Israeli spy ring for espionage, in East Azerbaijan. They had executed them before.
The spy ring was not part of the PTI, nor were theory involved in the May 9 attacks. They neither condemned Imran Khan nor swore they would stay away from politics.
Of course, whether or not they took the oath, they have all been kept out of politics, with the latest method being having their papers rejected by the Returning Officers. It seems to be a bit of a circle. All those wanted in the May 9 events have a prejudice against being arrested. Perhaps they have seen how, once they get you, they never let you go. ROs are asking people to come and verify their signatures. Now it seems that police parties, presumably led by DSPs of the old school, heavy of hand and not too finicky about interrogations, hover around ROs’ offices, waiting for someone wanted to turn up.
The next steps, like booth capturing, impersonation and casting fake ballots is probably not needed.
