As former dictator’s trial picks up impetus, news begin to trickle in about the leading legal eagles he has hired to get him off the hook. So far, it was Ahmad Raza Kasuri – the man with ‘dabang’ demeanour and overblown confidence – leading Mush’s defence. Now more have been taken on board. Beside the old hands like Sharifudin Pirzada, S M Zafar, and Malik Qayum leading Mush’s legal team at home, some barristers and QC’s in the UK have been hired to take his case to the international forums – UN and the European Union.
I always thought Musharraf was a global citizen and not a local bird. He was always their man and played their games, so ‘they’ would not let him come in harm’s way. Even his incarceration at his luxury farmhouse must be fun since he meets his friends freely, smokes his favourite cigars, and indulges in his nerve-soothing pastime. To top it, the state provides him security at taxpayers’ expense. If it’s not having the best of both worlds, what is?
DR A P SANGDIL
Oslo, Norway
Sitting in Oslo, Dr Sangdil is throwing stones on Mush because dictator’s limited followers cannot get close to the Doc in cold Norway. Had Sangdil been living in, let’s say, Islamabad or Lahore, Mush’s private security, the Blackwater boys, would have sorted the Doc out.
Musharraf, the almighty Dictator, opened the floodgates of corruption through LNG Quota Scam, Rental Power etc on which his NRO beneficiary PPP ruled the roost.
Musharraf created NAB but used (or abused) it to purchase the loyalties of politicians like Aftab Sherpao & Faisal Saleh Hayat etc. Not even a single penny was recovered from them rather they were made Ministers when they jumped into Musharraf's camp (since 1999).
Musharraf created the unholy MMA (Mullah Military Alliance) and used (or abused) it to double-cross the West (since 2000).
Despite receiving highest military & economic aid from the West, Musharraf did not install any energy infrastructure project and threw the country into Lost Decade of Energy Corruption (since 2003).
Musharraf demoralized the Army by unnecessarily pulling it into civilian jobs. Not only that professional bureaucracy & technocracy was marginalized but Army was dragged into every field of life. Now Army is being blamed for mega corruption cases in Pakistan Railways (Chinese Engines, Royal Palms), DHA (Zarrar Zameen) and NLC (misappropriation of Rs1800 Million) etc.
Musharraf signed NRO, the worst deal in the history of Pakistan, to legitimize more than 8000 cases of corruption (October 2007).
Musharraf imposed 2nd Martial Law in the Country, a unique record by any dictatorship not even in a banana republic, blacked out the media and jailed more than 60 judges along with their families (November 2007).
Now let's put our own biases aside and hope & pray that the rule of law prevails in the country, the back door for dictatorships is closed and the doctrine of necessity is buried forever!
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