Time to Speak out
By Dr I. Kamal
CA
It makes one’s heart bleed to see a brave soldier, who always led from the front and put his life on the line so many times to defend his country, being bullied and humiliated by blood-thirsty black-coated blackguards with a lynch-mob mentality, most of whom would run away, to say the least, if they were confronted by an enemy soldier face to face.
The question is being asked: Why is there no general outcry from the public?
This was answered years ago by Josef Goebbels, Hitler's Propaganda Minister, who had asserted: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it."
For the last seven years corrupt politicians and sections of the paid or prejudiced media have been repeatedly putting the blame for BB's murder, Bugti's death, the Lal Masjid incident, etc., etc., without rhyme or reason, on Musharraf - so much so that the public has been brain-washed into believing it.
Opportunistic leaders in the past have always fled the country when the wind was blowing against them. Musharraf came back, endangering his life again, because he felt that things needed to be righted, and in order to clear his name. He always led by consensus: of his Corps Commanders in the Army, and of the cabinet and his political advisors in civil administration. All his actions were taken under legal and constitutional cover as required at that time, which was prior to the passage of the 18 th Amendment which became an Act of Parliament when signed by President Zardari on April 19, 2010.
As far as his efforts to play a role in putting things right, Returning Officers have been allowed to reject his candidature on the basis of allegations made by men on the street, ignoring the universal law: "a man is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law", while loan defaulters, tax evaders and corrupt politicians, including a former prime minister whose arrest was ordered by the SC and happily ignored by the administration, were allowed to contest the elections. What role can he play?
Baney hain ahl-e-hawis muddayee bhee munsif bhee
Kisey wakeel karein, kis sey munsifee chaahein
(The people of greed have become the plaintiffs and the judges:
Whom should we make our advocate, where shall we look for justice?)
Musharraf’s fundamental human rights are being denied. Some provincial courts have sometimes restricted his meetings with his lawyers to 0-15 minutes; he has that harassed look. There are extremist elements in all section of the population and there is a danger of him being mentally and physically tortured.
He is a soldier: so many times he has put his life on the line, always leading from the front, be it the intense fighting for the Khemkaran Sector, or the Lahore and Sialkot war zones, or Kashmir itself, always sticking to his post under shellfire. For his courage, he recently received praise even from an Indian general who had fought against him, for coming deep into Indian territory in Kargil in 1999. Former Indian Army Chief General V. K. Singh, said: “As a military commander, I would commend General Musharraf for coming 11 km (inside Indian territory) to stay with his troops for a night. It is the courage of a military commander that he came so far knowing that there was danger.”
No one is above the law. Musharraf needs to be tried by the state for any crime he is alleged to have committed against the state. That’s why he came back: to clear his name. But his ill-treatment must be stopped.
It is encouraging to note that voices are being raised against this mis-treatememnt by several sections of the public, the media and retired generals of the Pakistan Army such as General (R) Faiz Ali Chishti, former C-in-C General (R) Mirza Aslam Baig and General (R) Jamshed Ayaz.
The Pakistan Army is the one remaining institution in the country which people trust and respect, in spite of repeated efforts by politicians to malign and vilify it (the latest over the Memogate affair). In an interview with a rude and uncouth talk show host on Dunya TV on April 23 rd, Gen ( R) Jamshed Ayaz spoke out against the inhuman treatment of APML workers (including women and children) by some lawyers who had proven themselves unworthy of a profession which has produced founding fathers of Pakistan such as the Quaid-i-Azam, Allama Iqbal, and Shaheed Liaquat Ali Khan. General Ayaz referred to the comradeship in the Armed Forces of the country, which always speaks with one voice. He said that the Army should not and would not interfere in the workings of the state, but it should speak out against the mis-treatment of its former chief, and his supporters.
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