Waiting for a miracle

Or wriggling to avoid the axe?

Musharraf has generally been reluctant to face the cases that have been instituted against him. The way he escaped from the Islamabad High Court in mortal fear of arrest would never be forgotten by the people of Pakistan. Equally traumatic to him was the idea of appearing before a court in Quetta on charges of killing Akbar Bugti. He maintained that he faced serious security threats if taken to the city and sought the shifting of the trial to Rawalpindi.

The filing of the treason case came as a rude shock to Musharraf. The former dictator started making indirect appeals to the army to come to his recue. Reluctance to face the courts turned into resistance when it came to appearance before the special tribunal holding the treason trial. The man who had come to contest elections in the country suddenly remembered that his life was under threat from numerous sources. Once out of power the blustering former dictator revealed a lack of moral fiber which provides inner strength to a man in situations of peril. Musharraf cowered in terror like a namby-pamby criminal whenever required to appear before the court. Naively planted bombs were discovered on his route to the court. The government provided extraordinary security cover to Musharraf up to the court’s premises and surrounding areas. The security arrangements included mobile phone jammers, at least 1,000 police personnel along with contingents of commandos and Rangers, deployment of containers to cordon off traffic, and bomb scanners. But the arrangements failed to raise the sagging morale of the weak-kneed man. On the way to court he suddenly made a diversion to the AFIC on the plea that he had suddenly developed heart trouble.

With hopes of army intervention and help from foreign friends fading, Musharraf’s lawyers tried every possible way to save his neck, beginning with a plea to allow him to go abroad for treatment. Failing in this, attempts were made to prove that the special court was prejudiced. As the court continued to show patience, despite frequent provocations, the objective couldn’t be achieved. Attempts were made to pick a fight with the state prosecutor, the legality of his appointment, and the formation of the special court was challenged. The SC was approached to annul the landmark July 31, 2009 judgment. When the petition was thrown out another futile attempt was made to argue before the apex court that warrants to arrest Musharraf were illegal. At Friday’s hearing the special court accepted another request from Musharraf’s lawyers that he be excused until February 18. The prayer for delay was made as hopes of help from unseen quarters still persist in Musharraf’s camp. National interest requires that no extraneous intervention be made in judicial proceedings. The introduction of any deus ex machina to change the natural course of events is bound to be widely resented.