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Pakistani author alleges harassment by Government

Nirupama Subramanian

ISLAMABAD: The author of a new book on the Pakistan military's business empire was left scrambling for a venue to launch her work after an elite club in the capital where the event was scheduled for Thursday turned her away at the last minute, according to her, at the Government's behest.

Ayesha Siddiqa, the author of "Military Inc., Inside Pakistan's Military Economy", said she learnt on Thursday morning that Islamabad Club had cancelled the launch of the book, which is a critical study of the Pakistan military's corporate interests.

Oxford University Press (OUP), the publishers of the book in Pakistan, said the club informed it on Wednesday night that it could not host the launch.

Fayaz Raja, the OUP representative in Islamabad, said the club gave no reason for its abrupt cancellation.

"The Government has banned my book launch," said Ms. Siddiqa. Her efforts to shift the venue to a hotel proved futile, as one establishment after another said it had instructions from the Government not to provide space for the event.

The author, who pledged she would go ahead with the launch, finally managed to hold it in the conference room of a non-government organisation here.

Charge denied

According to Reuters, Information Minister Mohammed Ali Durrani and Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao denied the Government was behind moves to block the book launch.

The book talks of the deep roots that the Pakistan military has sunk in the nation's economy, and argues that this is both the cause and effect of its political power.

The book comes at a time when the anti-Government agitation against the removal of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary has increasingly started taking an anti-military tone and questioning the role of the Pakistan's armed forces in governance.

Slogans against the military are being raised at street protests spearheaded by lawyers and political parties, and appear to have set off alarm bells in the corridors of power in Pakistan.

President Pervez Musharraf is under unprecedented pressure from the Opposition to quit as army chief and make way for civilian rule. The President, who said in an interview that his army uniform was like a "second skin" and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz have warned against criticism of the country's armed forces, and described those who indulged in "defamation" of state institutions as "enemies of the nation".

Addressing army officers at Jehlum garrison on Wednesday, Gen. Musharraf said it was the responsibility of every Pakistani to "maintain the sanctity" of the armed forces and other institutions.

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