With due respect to those who still like Musharraf who damaged the country more than Zia. Gen Zia and his accomplice met their fate and were burnt to ashes. Time has brought Musharraf to the gallows. . . . I believe, “Qudrat ke lathhi bey aawaz hai magar sargram-e-amal rehti hai.” It is all matter of time.
زندگی وقت کے حصار میں ہے
وقت کب کس کےاختیار میں ہے
وقت لاتا ہے سوئے دار اُسے
ظلم جو دور ِ اقتدار میں ہے
اشرف
We have to takle the institution rather then the personalities and look deep within ourselves. We all grew up very proud of the “invincible” “the best it the world” or the only one that can tackle Israel” army.THe common refrain for quite a time was ” our Air Force is the best or one of the best” in the world. Thre is a whole bunch o parasitic generals and brass which has been eating into the bare bone economy of Pakistan. The Army takeover are not done with consent on one personalities. What about generals from the time of Ayub to Zia. We all seem to be saying as Paskistanis “or Army is great except such and such”. The whole concept of the current Army and the bogus enemies has to be rexamined.
Musharraf’s goose has been cooked already.
Now Nawaz Shareef, who kept a loaded silence so far, is insisting that Musharraf should be dealt with very seriously. ANP leader Zahid Khan is insisting that Musharraf should be kept in the same basement where Nawaz Shareef was imprisoned.
The Senate today passed a resolution UNANIMOUSLY that Mushrraf should be tried and punished as a TRAITOR.
Lal Masjid Inquiry Commission has also come out today with its findings. The Commission report says that Musharraf is responsible for ordering the killings of many unarmed children and females. The families of the killed should be paid compensation and blood money by Musharraf, and he should pay for the rebuilding of Al-Hafsa Madressa too.
Pak Army has abandoned him because many in the Army want him hanged like Bhutto due to Lal Masjid incidence.
Musharraf has neither any backing inside Pakistan nor outside Pakistan.
Popular theory that he is no fool and that he must have a strong backing turned out to be wrong. He proved to be very foolish to walk straight into hangman’s noose. Some people still believe that Musharraf has not run out of tricks. Let’s see.
I disagree with Mirza Sahib that Musharraf damaged Pakistan more than Zia. They both are guilty of treason but our politicians too had a part in inviting army and hence must share the blame and responsibility and it is a long debate. Comparing Zia and Musharraf; Both had to make critical decisions regarding intervention in neighboring country by super powers and I think both made the correct decision without having a crystal ball. It is easy to be a Monday night’s quarterback when the game was played on Sunday night. Russia had to be tackled in Afghanistan like Churchill tackled Germany in France. USA had to be supported in the wake of 9/11 otherwise the “corridor” from Arabian sea to Afghanistan wasn’t hard to take for USA+NATO and Pakistan’s nukes (better known as Islamic bomb) would have been a bonus before taking on Iraq in the same thrust against Muslim “rouge” nations. What wasn’t foreseen was that the germ of Jihad (instead of keeping it a war of interests of super powers and Pakistan’s survival) grown in petri dish would become a monster like the dinosaur of movie Jurassic Park. Zia decided to introduce this bug in the proxy war with India and exploited religion to prolong his rule (the ridiculous referendum) and started Islamisation of constitution (Hadood Ordinance), and appeasement of Mullahs by going after Ahamadis – all these things became a plague that Pakistan is still suffering from.
Regarding the comment by Mr. Suhail Rizvi; I don’t think any one believed Pakistan’s armed forces as “invincible”, the false impression created after 1965 war was shattered in 1971 (and those who knew a thing or two, knew the reality at Tashkent). Some credit was claimed for ISI after Russian defeat in Afghanistan and that too was decimated by the rag tag Taliban’s and I wonder who was still impressed by Pakistan’s army after the crows that they had eat in Wasirastan and attacks on GHQ, air force base and naval base. I do agree with Suhail Sahib that not only some generals are bad eggs but the whole army is reflective of the nation as a whole…a nation which is corrupt to the bone, from a peon to Prime Ministers.
We as a Nation get what we deserve. The dictum that the Constitution is Holy, a Gospel, is so ill-founded. Constitution, Democracy, Politicking, are all MEANS to an end; Not the END itself. A faulty constitution, a corrupt democracy, a cadre of rogue politicians are all antithetic to good governance and need to be condemned and wiped out. What good is section 62 and 63 if they can not be complied with in its true spirit ? Doesn’t that lead to a sham democracy ? Lets not treat democracy, or constitution for that matter, as sacred cows. These can be roguish too, as is the case in Pakistan. Yes Pak Army is over-sized, over-stated in importance, acts beyond its brief, and cuts into the bone of the GDP. But it did serve a purpose when the politicians became more harmful than the hardened criminals. As a nation of high illiteracy, Pakistanis need to be handled by NOT the same means that are good for nations of literate and educated population. Desperate times deserve desperate methods. We are again at a juncture that needs a tough Martial Law to take over, and do ruthless cleaning of politicians, judiciary, bureaucracy and business elites. A new constitution needs to be drafted without any religious ideology, simply because we have 72 different sects which can not be represented by one constitution. Lets not sport hypocrisy as a national trait.
1- We have experience with Martial Laws before, it always ends badly and the nation has to start over again. All the Martial Laws came with same excuses, and at the end Army becomes part of the problem.
2- Unfortunately it is the educated elite in Pakistan who are corrupt. Feudalism is the problem, but I think the corrupt educated elite is the bigger problem.
3- Even if the Democratic process is disruptive and many times seem clownish, it is still better to go through this and let it move forward, and hopefully with time better leaders will come along as is happening in other democratic countries. With Martial Law, Pakistani nation will be starting from scratch again in few years, and going through the same process.Indonesia and Malaysia has many tribes and cultures but have a found a way, to move forward-within a democratic process.
Musharraf has to face the reality of his loss of power in a way he never imagined. It is a comeuppance he richly deserves. His legacy is different from Zia’s. Musharraf corrupted democracy, what little that existed in Pakistan. Zia left an ever more pernicious precedence of using religion for crass political ends that has scarred the national soul.
In the short prologue to my Qata’a I did not commend Zia, but viewed that Musharraf proved worse than his predecessor. My Qata’a projects a different outlook. As a matter of fact history is full of wise losers and successful sinners. In one way Zia was a successful sinner. Proving a successful tool, playing in the hands of Western powers, his success was freedom of Central Asian Muslim states from the yoke of the Soviets. Communists, though made possible by the Western power, were halted to proceed further towards Pakistan and were buried in Afghanistan. But Zia greatly sinned against his own people and did not foresee what he was doing. He met his befitting fate. Here I may clarify that for me sin is a higher degree of crime. Crime can be redressed and reformed but a higher crime which cannot be redressed by a person or a society is a sin. To ignore or forgive a crime of higher level known as sin, for a believer is at God’s Mercy and for a non-believer it is in the hands of nature. Thus it is all matter of time, here in this world or hereafter.
Musharraf followed the same line of action, becoming a tool in the hands of Western powers to reverse the sins committed by Zia. Unfortunately, he proved an unwise looser, for some may be wise looser, with 0% success in every field. The problem in North Eastern border is now worse than before and he has added more problems in the West by creating unrest amongst the Balochs. He could not control terrorism and USA is unhappy with him. For USA Zia helped them succeed, while Musharraf has not only failed them but also has failed his own people. He is succeeded by exactly as Einstein said, “Dictators are followed by rascals,” and the country received a corrupt and incompetent Zardari Junta ruling for 5 years. Relation with India is before all of us.
Just wait and see, a lot is going to unfold in Pakistan. Nato has to withdraw from this region and has no choice but to see events unfolding without any serious interference. Time is on the side of the people of Pakistan. Today is the best chance for the people of Pakistan to decide their future themselves. Let us hope for the best.
Mirza Ashraf