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| Five years of the army dictatorship in Pakistan: one more black day added to the dirty rule |
 PRINTABLE VERSION |
General Musharraf is lucky as he is riding high internationally, having transformed his image from a virtual pariah to an ally of the West following his post-September 11 desertion of the Taliban. He has used that American-compelled turnabout in Pakistani policy and his assistance in the anti-terror war to reap major benefits, including significant Western aid and legitimizing his dictatorship. He has also kept Washington happy through certain concessions, like giving permission to the US forces to join Pakistani troops in hunting in the Pakistani territory. In turn, General Musharraf has taken advantage of the friendly attitudes of the West not only to break his democracy pledge but also to shrink back from promises he made in when he took power.
General Musharraf oils his dictatorship with American aid, as did the previous Pakistani dictator, General Zia ul-Haq, who spurred on the rise of the forces of jihad and Islamisation campaign are still being felt today. The militant groups remain well-organised, well-armed and well- financed. Yet General Musharraf continues to place limits on American anti-terrorist operations, barring American forces from making independent hot-pursuit raids from Afghanistan into Pakistan. It is becoming more certain with every passing moment that the international community--read as 'USA'--is going to repeat the mistakes of the past--the mistake of supporting and nurturing Suhartos, Pinochets, Marcos and Zias.
The perpetrators of "Operation Enduring Freedom" are collaborating with Pakistan's generals to snatch the very freedom from the people of Pakistan that they claim to be fighting for.
The country’s fifty-five year history has been a series of lengthy duels between general and politician, with civil servants acting as seconds for both sides. Statistics reveal the winner: while elected representatives have run the country for fifteen years, and unaccountable bureaucrats and their tame front men for eleven, the Army has been in power for Thirty Five—leading some to suggest that the green-and-white national flag might be re-coloured khaki. It is a dismal record, but the Pakistan high command has never tolerated interference from civilian politicians for too long. The last elected leader to believe he had the Army firmly under his control, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, had to be disabused of the notion. In 1977, on the orders of General Zia—an erstwhile favourite whom Bhutto had promoted over the heads of five, more deserving, superior officers—the prime minister was removed from power and hanged two years later.
No dictator believes in a short tenure. If Musharraf had any plans of turning over power to a civilian, he wouldn't have given the Sharif family its one-way ticket to Riyadh
Of the four dictators Pakistan has had, two have been assassinated; another two were removed in disgrace. There should be no reason for Musharraf to believe he would buck the trend.
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Writer Profile
Aftab Khan
25 years old Electronics & Computer System Engineer by Education and an activist of Human rights and Women Rights. Presently living in exile in Sweden since october 2003 due to the involvment in a campaign against the injustice in the society and undemocratic Military Government in Pakistan
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