Controlling iOS apps via command line I have jailbroken iPad (iOS5.1.1) with the shell utility installed.

I'd like to be able to launch and control applications via the command line, as I would normally do in Unix or Linux. Say I want to play a specific file in my iPad, I want to be able to ask the iPad's music app to play it for me via command line. (Something similar to cvlc, I couldn't find cvlc for the iPad)

Is it possible to do so? If yes then how?
You can install OpenSSH in Cydia and use a SSH client (say, Panic's Prompt - look for it in the App Store), that makes a pretty nice terminal emulator for iOS.

As to running programs from the command line, sure, no problem, but none of them are designed to work in CLI. They don't retrieve/parse arguments, don't output...etc 
If you can get some out of Cydia or compile them yourself, it'll work, but I don't think you'll be able to command Apple's own apps that way.