Firstly, the thought that Musharraf saved the country, is based on assumptions, Pakistan has been in worse situations before, ALLAH S.W.T. and the prayers of our pious elders saved it each time.

May 1998; a threat is received that Israel will attack Pakistan if it attempts to put its nuclear capabilities to test. Pakistan meets the threat with ample preparation, carries out the nuke tests successfully(alhamduliLLAH) and the Israeli threat dies its own death. No, Nawaz Sharif did not save or endanger the country. Had we not tested the nukes, to this day there would be people saying the same common thing “acha hua Nawaz Sharif nay dhamaakay nahi karwaaye, ussnay Pakistan ko to bachaaliyaa….”. Dosto, hum zinda qaum hain, zinda rahengay insha’ALLAH, our decisions should be based on our own interests, not on US dictation. Anyways, won’t elaborate on this any further, just wanted to eliminate this common perception that Musharraf saved the country.

October 2001 (post 9/11); US wanted Pakistan’s complete submission to their operation “TALIBAN EXTERMINATION”. They knew for a fact, that since the fall of U.S.S.R., Pakistan was the nation that had pumped back blood into the veins of Afghanistan which was left in ruins by the Russians. And they therefore knew, that none but Pakistani expertise could assist them now. Bush approached our beloved President with a multiple choice question:
Q. You will be with us? (note that the interrogative sentence seems more of an order)
a. YES
b. NO (I dare you!)

Though it is against the rules of MCQs to give only two options, BUSH played by the rules of MCQs and gave our guy simply 2 options…
Musharraf was comparatively new back then, just 2 yrs of ruling experience in a nation that was corrupt from head to toe (this does not include our simple civilians/villagers).
Thoughts that popped up:
1. What are the problems I am facing:
a. Economy-I (Generals are no longer getting salaries in Foreign Exchange)
b. Economy-II (Its hard to afford so many protocol cars with such a low defense budget…sorry people of Pakistan, I belong to the army, even 68% of your pathetic budget is less for us, we are the rich citizens of a poor country.)
c. Economy-III (I need to show the nation that I’m somewhat capable, need imbursements for development of urban areas as well)
d. Political stability (Just 2 years and I’m losing popularity, need assistance here)
e. Defense incompetence with India (They get everything from Israel! We have to make our own, lets see if US can help us in this section too)
f. The Kashmir Issue (If I solve this one, the whole nation will remember me for centuries, I’ll definitely ask Uncle Sam to pressurize India in this regard atleast)
g. The opposition issues(MMA in particular)
h. …
i. ….
j. ………..the list goes on.

In the end, ofcourse he chose the former option, was lucrative after all! The US rewards all its allies in a handsome manner. If I can provide the Generals around me a complacent life, they’ll never bother me, I can prolong my reign (this is how dictatorship works, keep the elites happy and they keep the rest of the nation’s mouth shut for as long as u like……… But watch out my dear President, they’re waiting for you to lose it, they’ll open up every hidden truth to save themselves the embarrassment of the misdeeds of the golden days of your empire. No offense, we have seen this happen, be it Bhutto’s allies, Zia’s, Benazir’s or Nawaz Sharif’s, they all spat out all they knew once these leaders were history…and Musharraf is no exception, the day he leaves, Hamood-ur-rehman commission’s revised edition will be published …………. Musharraf, u did the same to your predecessors, sorry buddy, you’ll face the same fate too. Am not saying you did anything too bad, everyone does it but does not foresee the consequences that befall them once they lose power…. Hota hai hota hai….. insaan powerful hota hai to sochta hai koi kuch nahi bigaarhsakta mera….but what they all forget is that the sovereign power does not lie in their hands. Sovereignty belongs to ALLAH alone.…. But unfortunately….. neways….lets get back to the topic).

So Musharraf opted to go with the US… Muss-haf Ali Meer, the then Chief Air Marshal showed resistance to this decision and his personal pilot had an attack of amnesia and his plane crashed --- so the others who even thought of resisting the idea decided to keep their mouths shut. We gave our airbases to the US airforce to attack our neighbouring country that we had brought up like a child in the previous decade.

[Anyhow, that’s history, but I want to clarify one thing here. Our people very harshly blame the Afghans for bringing in drugs/narcotics and ammunition in the market, I would like to ask them one thing, if there is no appeal for such things in the market, would they ever sell in such a place? They had other customers around them, but unfortunately our own people showed interest and bought those menaces at dear costs. Afghans were desperate for money, WE gave them that money by buying those AK-47s, drugs etc. from them. Don’t blame them now.]

….by doing so, Musharraf received a round of applause from all the allies of the US, minor gifts were awarded, Musharraf, who had never received such appraisal from the rest of the world, thought he had made it big time with the bully of this planet.

Early 2002; after a lot of carpet bombing, US decided to land its commandoes in the combat zone near Tora Bora… a huge no. of commandoes get killed in a major operation by the Taliban, Bush pings Mushy for an explanation, Mushy finds out the Afghan cell of the ISI is still active unofficially, he throws out certain Generals to appease Bush and apologises for the inconvenience caused by the bunch of nut-heads of the Afghan cell. With the Talibans undercontrol, Bush decides to further his ambitions in Iraq, however, just to keep the episodes of the drama going, so that Pakistan is not ditched after an amazing cooperation in the Afghan grounds, every couple of days, it is reported by the CNN that some top insurgents have infiltrated Pakistan. There! Pakistan’s back on stage, ready to play its role. Kill Naik Mohammed, catch Faraj Al-Libbi* do this, do that, and Musharraf shouting at the top of his lungs “I WANT MY F-16s!!!!!!!”…But the noise falls on deaf ears.

Sept. 2005; The rape case of Sonia Naz is on the roll, the govt. tries its best to hide the culprit SP Khalid Abdullah (just like they managed to cover up Capt. Hammad involved in Dr. Shazia Akhtar’s case). As things begin to settle down in the area, Musharraf is summoned to NewYork to attend the AJC(American Jews Committee) conference, once again, Musharraf blows the cover and makes an immature statement regarding the rape issues in Pakistan during his interview to Washingtonpost.

Late 2005; a devastating earthquake hits us (a sign of GOD’s displeasure? A natural disaster? Was quite predictable --- various interpretations, but one result: a humongous loss)……. Turns out, after all these years, our esteemed forces are short of helicops… Musharraf heard once again “I WANT HELICOPS! I NEED FUNDS and last but not the least I WANT MY F-16s!!!”
Uncle Sam decides to keep the poor kid from bursting into tears, they send an aid of a couple thousand million dollars, send for a couple of Chinook helis from Afghanistan and arrange the delivery of 2 F-16s. There, Musharraf breathes a sigh of relief, thank GOD the US did not cheat on me after I’d done everything for them!

Early 2006; American fighters enter the Pakistani border and bomb certain remote areas leaving atleast 18 people dead, which include children and women. They say it was target killing, our Govt. tries to protest but decides to keep it low.
The winter in the quake-hit areas hasn’t settled, people are still dying there each day, however, since the media is no longer paying attention, once again the people who’s hearts reached out to their brothers in Balakot and Muzaffarabad, are busy in their lives. Lahore, which was hit by a couple of aftershocks itself after the major quake, is sooo glad about it that they hold a marathon in which women of our beloved nation run on the roads (as a tribute to those who died just 3 months back in the earthquake)… These days, we are, thanks to our media, celebrating the Basant in our country, this too, mind it, shows our unity with our brethren lying in tents eating can-food up there in the north…………….. The show will carry on people, thanks to Musharraf, we are an independent nation, and we live the way we like.

@ Yasir Hayat Khan:
tumko maaloom hai hukoomat kee haqeeqat lekin,
dil kay behlaanay ko Yasir yeh khayaal acha hai.

A very healthy discussion was going on, sorry I had to interrupt with my extraordinary critiques … But being a Pakistani, I have every right to point out the wrongdoings or shortcomings of our Govt.. Those who still support our govt. after witnessing the anarchy that prevails, then I would sincerely suggest them to use eye-drops to clear their vision. You still don’t feel the pain because by the grace of ALLAH, it hasn’t reached your home.

Goto Sindh:
Ask the family of the 14-year old kid(boy) of Shah-Faisal colony who was raped by policemen and burnt himself to death(2002), ask the family of the 6 and 8 year old girls who were raped by the TPO of Gadap Town(2003), ask the family of Munawar Sehrwardi(2003), ask the students of Maulana Shamzayee(a great scholar of islam)(2004)…………

Goto Balochistan: Ask the family of Dr. Shazia Akhtar who was raped(2004), forced to keep it low and threatened to stay quiet and leave the country.

Goto Punjab: Ask the family of Sonia Naz(2005), ask the families of those who have lost their children to Basant(since the very first day its being celebrated)

Goto the Ground Forces: Ask the families of those jawaans who lost their lives in Kargil only to learn Pakistani army would retreat/surrender in the end (1998).

Goto the PAF: ask the family of Musshaf Ali Meer.

Last but not the least,

Goto Kahota: ask the families of Dr. Qadeer Khan and several other scientists who worked day and night to make Pakistan a nuclear power (2003 and onwards)…….



In the end, ask yourself, has justice been done to these people? A system which cannot provide justice to common people, suffers a lot and in the end shatters to pieces. I absolutely reserve no grudges against President Musharraf, and he is no personal foe of mine, but since he takes the credit of whatever good comes to Pakistan, he deserves the blame of all that goes wrong too. He’s the leader, dictator, commander-in-chief, whatever you call him……. No one hates him, however, he has a responsibility of the nation more than the outer world, he should’ve focused on internal issues honestly, and nothing can stop sincere efforts. Anyways, its never too late. Ways can be mended, an effective judicial system that does not distinguish between the poor and the elites can still be brought into existence, the Police dept. should be reformed or else suspended. Once justice returns, peace, harmony and prosperity shall be our destiny, insha’ALLAH.


(no offenses anyone……… pardon me if there are any mistakes, I typed all this in a haste amidst a flood of thoughts, racing through the short time that I had… )


Regards,

THE 1