August
31, 2007
Changing
of the Guard
Is there such a dearth
of talent in a nation of 160 million
that we have to recycle the same old
political faces: Musharraf, Benazir
and Sharif? They’ve all essentially
served the American equivalent of two
presidential terms, and so is it utopian
to want to say: out with the old and
in with the new?
General Musharraf is trying every permutation
to try to hold onto power. And his flailings
have now even lost the veneer they once
had. His driving delusion is his messiah
complex and the entrenched sense in
his mind that Pakistan cannot possibly
do without him. First came the attempt
to dispense with the Chief Justice for
his murmurings of dissent from Musharraf’s
reelection agenda were obvious, then
the wooing of Benazir and when that,
initially, did not go as planned, the
flirtation with emergency rule which
Condi Rice squashed in her 2 a.m. phone
call. Now apparently a deal with BB
has occurred, her corruption charges
would be washed away and she would in
some way legitimize his continued rule.
There are indications from several quarters
of the PML (Q) that they will not tolerate
Musharraf in uniform, reported even
in the New York Times.
When the Sharif brothers decide to return,
they are told that they would have to
stand trial for their respective corruption.
Now I do understand that Musharraf is
the president of Pakistan, but does
that office come with the arbitrary
and self-serving waiving away of charges
against the goose, but the stolid prosecution
of the gander?
It is not long ago that Benazir and
Nawaz Sharif were Prime Minister of
Pakistan. But it stretches one’s
neurons to recap what it was that they
did that was actually good for Pakistan.
Benazir’s primary claims to fame
are her paternity and that the PPP is
the largest party and has a strong following
in Pakistan. Being able to make a grammatically
correct speech in Urdu, though, should
be one of the essential criteria of
a leader of Pakistan. And besides, in
her years of rule the vision was anemic,
the practice paralytic. Except of course
in the Mr. 10% commission of dear hubby,
the exorbitant diamonds and ridiculous
estates — no weakness of motion
there.
Nawaz Sharif’s rule was marked
by Pakistan’s intro into the nuclear
world and brother Shahbaz as governor
made Lahore greener; nothing beyond
that is brought forth by the mind. Though
his robbing the exchequer and building
the estates in Raiwind, and the sugar
mills commissions among various other
thefts come up rapidly.
It is deep insult to the collective
injury of the Pakistani nation for these
leaders to think that their pillage
of Pakistan has been forgotten, or brushed
under the rug, just because they have
now decided to make a comeback.
It is wonderfully fortuitous that Makhdoom
Javed Hashmi of the PML (N) has been
released from prison a few weeks ago.
He spent a longer time in solitary confinement
than Nelson Mandela. It is a tribute
to the human spirit to see that the
rigors of prison did not break the spirit
of this man. It was poignant that his
only objection besides the known physical
hardship was that he could not express
his opinion. “The prison guard
had an opinion, but I did not”,
he said in a recent interview.
Hashmi possesses capability and would
be the ideal person for Nawaz Sharif
to hand the baton to. An informal poll
reports that the PML (N) currently holds
sway for it is not joining hands with
Musharraf. And Musharraf is going to
block the return of the Sharif brothers
in a multitude of novel and direct ways.
It is a terribly Pakistani thing to
look out for one’s personal benefit
first, second and last. Our patriotism
begins and ends with the loud rendering
of qaumi taranas. None of these
three, Musharraf, Benazir nor Sharif
are at all considering the benefit of
the nation. Self before state may well
be the motto for Pakistanis, especially
those in positions of leadership.
Ghulam Mustafa Khar of the PPP has stated
quite categorically that if BB makes
a deal with Musharraf and tolerates
his uniform, she will lose the PPP vote
bank. Again the personalities above
processes paradigm that rules Pakistan
was evident in the lack of acknowledgement
by Benazir of Aitazaz Ahsan’s
defense of the Chief Justice, Iftikhar
Chaudhry.
There is a saying in tennis: good thought,
poor execution. The reference against
the Chief Justice may not have been
without merit, he may have been culpable
of the charges of corruption, but the
manner in which the reference was handled
and the way that he was manhandled,
pretty much decided the verdict before
the inception of the trial. Even so,
and even if the case was won fortuitously;
there has been the attainment of a semblance
of the independence of the judiciary
of Pakistan. But Benazir could not be
tickled by that; she is currently and
probably always will be concerned only
with Benazir.
“There is a tide in the affairs
of men, which, when taken at its flood,
leads onto fortune”. So said Shakespeare.
The gavel here needs to be handed over
to Aitazaz Ahsan and on the coattails
of his win for the Chief Justice we
could have a PPP Prime Minister.
The other paradox is the MQM’s
massive following with essentially an
absent leader. And Imran Khan is in
contradistinction to the MQM, in that
he is a capable leader without a following.
The MQM substitutes its leadership,
currently the oath of allegiance has
been given to Musharraf, being that
Altaf Hussain fears being killed should
he step into Pakistan. The religious
parties are significant only for giving
Americans transatlantic palpitations,
for BB has waxed eloquent about the
mullah-military alliance, and Musharraf
himself has milked the premise that
Pakistan would fall to radical rule
should he be gone, only to perpetuate
his hold on power. Nationally the MMA
regularly erode their credibility by
threatening to resign on a whim, and
then forgetting what they had threatened
during the pout.
After each article that criticizes Musharraf
I get loads of email remembering Benazir
and Nawaz Sharif’s corruption.
The greatest disservice to Pakistan
by Benazir and Nawaz Sharif was to make
civilian rule synonymous with deep corruption
in the minds of Pakistanis. It is deeply
disturbing to realize how entrenched
this concept is in the minds of so many.
To the point that they are willing to
short-change Pakistan with continued
military rule thinly disguised as a
democracy.
Azmooda ra azmoodan jahal ast is
a Persian saying which translates into
“trying out one that has already
been tried is the sure sign of ignorance”.
Why is the Pakistani nation allowing
this power charade of characters that
need immediate political retirement
to continue? Especially when brilliance
is on offer?
(Mahjabeen Islam is a physician and
freelance columnist based in Toledo
Ohio. Her email address is mahjabeenislam@hotmail.com)
