Give the Devil His Due
By Colonel Riaz Jafri
Rawalpindi , Pakistan
One can understand Mian Sahib’s unrelenting insistence on Musharraf’s trial under Article-6 for violating the Constitution but his outright condemnation of the latter for ruining Pakistan and Pakistan’s economy during his eight-year rule is hardly warranted. In one of his recent Press conferences Mian Sahib was repeatedly making the charge, “Iss dakoo nay qaum ko dia kia hay, swaye barbadi aur andheron ke?” (words to that effect).
Whether one likes it or not, the man did a lot of good too in almost all spheres of nation-building. Since the Mian Brothers (nay, the Mian family with bag and baggage and cooks too) were out of the country they may not be aware of General Musharraf’s multifarious achievements. Also as the family essentially hails from the business community, only the following economic gains which may be easily understood by them are reproduced for their consumption and information from a website http://presidentmusharraf.wordpress.com/about/ , which has also links to the World Bank, the IMF, the ADB, etc. to support the achievements.
Quote:
President Musharraf led a great team of economists and professionals with ex-PM Shaukat Aziz , to mark their achievements that caused Pakistan to emerge as a geo-strategic important country with a 100% better economy! In 2006, Pakistan was the 3rd fastest growing economy of the world and world’s preferred destination for investment! During President Musharraf’s era:
Pakistan ’s economy grew by 100% — to become $ 160 billion.
Revenue grew by 100% — to become $ 11.4 billion.
Per capita income grew by 100% — to become $ 925.
Foreign reserves grew by 500% — to become $ 17 billion.
Exports grew by 100% — to become $ 18.5 billion.
Textile exports grew by 100% — to become $ 11.2 billion.
Karachi Stock Exchange grew by 500% — to become $ 75 billion.
Foreign Direct Investment grew by 500% — to become $ 8 billion.
Annual debt servicing decreased by 35% — to become 26%.
Poverty decreased by 10% — to become 24%.
Public development funds grew by 100% — to become Rs 520 billion.
President Musharraf’s vision and policies helped Pakistan come out of the list of Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) while setting it on path of prosperity, growth and economic reforms --- the world institutions like the World Bank, IMF and ADB have been praising Pakistan for its reforms, fiscal policies and macro-economic policies ----
Unquote.
Dear Mian Sahib, while you are right in your demand for upholding the Constitution, you should not so stubbornly deny the devil his due.
