Musharraf and His Supporters
By Naveed Khan
San Jose,
CA
It is indeed astonishing that defenders of Musharraf have come out of the woodwork to justify his brutality on Pakistan’s civil society. I was appalled at the number of people who wrote in your opinion column last week justifying his actions. Respected Isha Abdullah, Sadiq Mehdi and Riaz Haq, wrote those opinion pieces as if Musharraf had not been ruling Pakistan for almost nine years with almost total power but some one else. They have pointed fingers at every one else for the troubles that Pakistan is facing today and conveniently absolved General Musharraf. Indeed, they have painted him as a saint who has salvaged Pakistan in the past and will do so again. They justify his oppressive and repulsive regime because they do not see any other choice on the horizon to lead Pakistan and appease the USA. I respectfully disagree with their rather very narrow minded and parochial observations. I supported Musharraf when he delivered Pakistan from the very myopic government of Nawaz Sharif and set out to reform the political-economic system. In the last four years, he has acted selfishly and with brutality to stifle political and ideological opposition. He murdered Nawab Bugti of Balochistan and sowed seeds of open hostility towards Pakistan among the oppressed people of Balochistan. Bugti, a proud independent minded Baloch leader, had refused to accept the dictates of the selfish and self-centered Musharraf and his clique of Generals. Therefore, instead of negotiating with an ex-elected leader of the Baloch people, he simply chose to murder him. In 1999, when he usurped power, his stance was pro-Pakistan, and his slogan Pakistan First was admired by the educated civil society. In 2007 his stance is only pro-MQM, pro-USA and he only knows how to use force against his opponents. During his autocratic regime, hundreds of people have disappeared, killed, incarcerated or sent to the USA for ransom paid to Pakistan Military. The most astonishing aspect of the opinion givers is that they simply ignore the fact that Musharraf has been ruling for the last nine years. As he takes credit for the positives and especially the economic turnaround, his supporters should be brave enough to accept his failures. Today Pakistan stands isolated, humiliated, and under the grip of militancy. The people of Pakistan do not have access to justice, they do not have fundamental human rights, they do not have access to free media, and their educated people are beaten up on the streets, their judiciary is jailed and roughed up by the police. Are these the doings of a brave and wise man?
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