Sunday Levity: Isn’t it ironic…don’t you think?

Or do you need generic Humorex?

This is an archived blog post from The Acorn.

General Musharraf certainly didn’t see the irony in his latest ‘mere azeez humwatanon’ speech. He invoked Abraham Lincoln to justify why saving the nation is more important than saving such niceties as the constitution, fundamental rights, media freedoms etc. And he claimed martial law was necessary to avoid “judicial interference” from impeding the “third phase” in Pakistan’s transition to democracy. Musharraf had to destroy the village to save it.

There’s even more irony blowing in from Swat in the tribal areas the North West Frontier Province. The leader of the tribal militia, labelled as Taliban or al-Qaeda to comfort Western audiences, is a certain Maulana Fazlullah. Before he began beheading Pakistani paramilitary troops and demanding the imposition of the strictest sharia, he had acquired the epithet of “Maulana FM Radio”. He used radio broadcasts to preach his brand of Islam and rouse the populace into rebellion. But in April 2007, he declared television and music to be unIslamic, causing over 10 thousand TV sets to be set on fire. Irony, apart, isn’t he depriving Osama bin Laden of an audience? In nearby Bajaur, fundamentalists have banned ring-tones. Cellular telephones, though, remain acceptable.

And there’s another irony: fundamentalists and “enlightened moderates” want televisions banned for their own reasons. Except, that is, when they are tuned to the right channel.

Update: Desipundit directs us to a guest post by General Musharraf on Rajeev’s Almanack:

I am Pakistan’s Lincoln. He suspended habeas corpus, I suspended the whole constitution. Same difference. I am Pakistan’s Gandhi. He disobeyed laws that he considered unjust and so do I. I am Pakistan’s Savior. Jesus Christ was a victim of Judicial Activism by Pontius Pilate. So am I the victim of extreme Judicial Activism by one Chaudhary. [Rajeev’s Almanack]

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