Going gung-ho on Musharraf

Amid signs of capitulation to Taliban?

After the high drama enacted at the AFIC (Armed Forces Institute for Cardiology) for the past three months the venue has now shifted to General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf’s abode in Chak Shahzad. The former dictator after being indicted for high treason and refused permission to travel abroad has moved to his farmhouse. He has decided to move the Supreme Court to get his name removed from the exit control list (ECL).

Since his indictment the general has become the favourite whipping boy of the PML-N hierarchy and its captive media anchors. The very day that the prime minister refused to allow Musharraf to travel abroad to meet his ailing mother in Dubai, the federal ministers of defence and Railways, Khawaja Asif and Saad Rafiq went to town on him.

We all know how much the PML-N suffered at the hands of the former strongman. But why lambast a person who is already down and out? And does it behove, especially those in power?

Musharraf is paying for his sins, as he should be. But unlike a military dictatorship, in a democracy even coup makers are entitled to due process of law. Hence, the propensity to try him in the media as well as the courts should be resisted by ruling party stalwarts.

After implicitly acknowledging the Taliban as equal partners in negotiations, are future talks going to be all about capitulation?

The former dictator should be allowed to stew in his own juice. A year ago when he landed in Karachi, he had high hopes of being received by a large crowd. In store for him was a rude shock, and he got his reality check. The people of Pakistan had moved on and had no stomach for real or perceived achievements in his so-called ‘true democracy’.

Despite such public Musharraf continues to portray like a delusional man. The former dictator still thinks that he brought a lot of good to Pakistan in his nine-year stint as its supremo. This was evident during his deposition in the special court trying him for high treason while defending his November 3, 2007 actions.

But whatever his public persona, in the heart of his hearts he must be a hugely disappointed, if not a broken man. He had not pinned any hopes on the former COAS Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who despite being handpicked by Musharraf had no qualms in sending his former mentor packing into exile.

Three questions: Why cannot the government speak with one voice on the matter? Was the military on board on release of the so-called non-combatants? And was there a quid pro quo or the prisoners were released unconditionally?

However, Musharraf had higher hopes from the incumbent COAS Gen Raheel Sharif, who he considers as his protégé. The former dictator could not have been a guest at the AFIC for three months without a nod from the COAS.

The government spokesmen keep on denying media reports that the military chief exerted any pressure to let Musharraf go.

Nonetheless it is well known that Gen Sharif did convey to Prime Minister Sharif the military leadership’s discomfiture over the trial of its former chief.

Musharraf had expected quite naively that the military would stick its neck out for him. But unfortunately for him his timing was bad and sneaking out has thus become a tad difficult.

Perhaps the former dictator needs to be reminded of the ages-old saying, “kingship knows no kinship”

Right now the country is facing an existential threat in the form of rampant terrorism and extremism. Tenuous negotiations with the TTP are taking place. But few, of course with the exception of interior minister Ch Nisar Ali and the PTI chief Imran Khan, feel that these talks will succeed.

Unlike a military dictatorship, in a democracy even coup makers are entitled to due process of law. Hence, the propensity to try him in the media as well as the courts should be resisted by ruling party stalwarts.

Obviously the military has to keep its powder dry to launch an operation against the terrorists holed up in our badlands in the north-west frontier. For it to deal with the ramifications of inevitable withdrawal of the US-led NATO forces from Afghanistan are of immediate and hence pressing concern.

Musharraf should understand, Pakistan has moved on since October 1999 when after launching his disastrous Kargil misadventure he ousted Nawaz Sharif in a coup.

Unless Sharif and his cohorts make a royal mess of things, neither the military has the stomach nor the circumstances allow for another coup.

Hence apart from tea and sympathy Musharraf should not expect anything more from Gen Sharif. This does not however mean that the government should treat him badly.

The matter of allowing the former dictator to travel abroad is to be decided by the apex court. With CJP Choudhry Iftikhar having already retired, Musharraf cannot claim that the dice is loaded against him.

The special court after indicting him for high treason has already exempted him from personal appearance. In this sense, heavens will not fall if the former dictator travels abroad for whatever reason. If he chooses not to return, the onus will be on him. If the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet could be extradited, so could Musharraf, if convicted.

The Sharifs should not forget that Musharraf allowed them to move to Saudi Arabia in December 2000 and subsequently permitted the shift to ever greater freedom in the UK. Ultimately both Benazir and the Sharifs returned from exile and were able to participate in the 2008 elections as part of a deal brokered with Musharraf.

Hence the ruling party should sound more magnanimous in victory. Sharif has claimed that he has no rancour against Musharraf. This should reflect in his actions too.

Unless Sharif and his cohorts make a royal mess of things, neither the military has the stomach nor the circumstances allow for another coup.

It is no mean achievement that for the first time in the country’s history a former military chief has been indicted for trampling democracy under his jackboots. Before Musharraf, General Zia ul Haq, general Ayub Khan and Gen Yayha khan literally got away with murder.

If the prosecution plays its cards right, the whole ambit of military-civilian relations with its sordid past is bound to come under discussion during the trial. That will be the time and place for politicians to have their say rather than washing dirty linen in public.

Interior minister Nisar Ali Khan in his quixotic pursuit of negotiating with the Taliban has expressed satisfaction that the talks are bearing fruit, going as planned. But the manner in which some ostensibly non-combatant Taliban prisoners were released the other day speaks otherwise.

According to the prime minister’s secretariat, the prisoners released were not Taliban but petty criminals. As if the prime minister saying one thing and the interior minister quite another was not bad enough, to make matters worse, the statement was later retracted. Confusion worst confounded?

Three questions arise here: Why cannot the government speak with one voice on the matter? Was the military on board on release of the so-called non-combatants? And was there a quid pro quo or the prisoners were released unconditionally?

The TTP has refused to release or facilitate the release of scions of late Salman Taseer and Yousuf Raza Gilani. Perhaps the so-called good Taliban were released to pave way for extension of the ceasefire that technically expired on March 31. Nonetheless after implicitly acknowledging the Taliban as equal partners in negotiations, are future talks going to be all about capitulation?