Know your worth, General
By Dr A Q Khan

The elections and their outcome are now behind us. Except for some complaints of rigging, the atmosphere is cooling down and everyone is looking forward to the formation of the new government. People’s expectations are high right now, but it can be expected that in six months the same people will become restless if the rulers don’t deliver.

The election results have turned out quite contrary to what was forecast by many, which goes to prove that rules like those for mathematics and physics don’t apply to politics. I won’t even try to make any prediction about the ultimate fate of the new government. I will instead, because of its importance, look at the second-most important issue at the moment – Pervez Musharraf and the cases against him.

As a Persian proverb says: Ayaz qadr khud bashanas (Ayaz, know your own worth). Ayaz was a slave of King Mahmud of Ghazni and was very close to him, but very conscious of his real status. This proverb contains an invaluable message to men of understanding. Another Persian adage says, ‘O wise man! Don’t do anything for which you will repent later’. According to Tulsidas: “When God wants to punish someone, He first takes away his wisdom”. It is also true that a person often digs his own grave by his wrongdoings.

Similarly, one of our local sayings says that a 12-year stint of kingship or begging cannot be shrugged off easily. For example, after Emperor Aurangzeb had imprisoned his own father in the Red Fort, he visited him there and asked if there was anything he wanted. Shah Jahan replied that he would like to have some students to teach so that he could pass the time. To this, Aurangzeb sarcastically remarked that even in captivity his father’s instinct of command had not withered.

All these aptly apply to Musharraf who became so intoxicated with power that he forgot who he was and indulged in many wrongdoings, which he is paying for now. Senator S M Zafar, Pir Sahib of Pagara, Ch Shujaat Hussain and others had advised him not to return to Pakistan because this would lead to him being hauled from court to court to face a number of serious criminal cases.

Despite these warnings, he returned – apparently under the illusion that he was a beloved leader, and totally erasing his crimes (ousting Nawaz’s government, the Lal Masjid incident, the declaration of emergency, the incarceration of the judges, the murder of Akbar Bugti, etc) from his mind. All those who suffered at his brutal hands are now up in arms against him and his return has only served to remind them of his atrocities.

In his letter to the Supreme Court, Musharraf forgot that he was no longer the president or the COAS and that he would have to appear as an accused before those very same judges whom he had mischievously incarcerated and insulted. While knowing that there were many serious cases against him, his return was not an act of bravery, but one of sheer stupidity. Now he is running from pillar to post to seek relief from those same judges.

He who once pardoned the corrupt and the criminal under the NRO is now at the mercy of the courts. Had he not come back so soon, perhaps the grief of the bereaved families of those who fell victim to his policy of suppression may have subsided. That was not to be and the fury of those affected is understandable.

The interim prime minister, a former judge, said to have undertaken many actions outside his mandate, was quick to refuse to write to the SC to start a treason case against Musharraf.

A heavy responsibility now lies with Nawaz Sharif. He will have to write the required letter to the SC, as per constitution and the SC’s directive. If he does not do so, he too will be accused of violating the constitution and breaching the promises he made earlier.

He should let justice take its course. If Musharraf is innocent, he will walk out a free man; but if found guilty, he will have to face the consequences. Refusal to write that letter on the part of Nawaz Sharif would be tantamount to breach of trust. Let the court have the final say.

The court showed great leniency to Musharraf by granting him bail before arrest. Even though he had inflicted many hardships on Nawaz Sharif and his family, the latter graciously refrained from using any derogatory language against him. Instead, Nawaz Sharif had to listen to taunts by Imran Khan claiming that he had struck a secret deal with Musharraf, and this while he had no reason to do so.

Musharraf is now no more than a paper commando. There is no reason why any leniency should be shown to the former dictator. He deserves as good as he gave. He had Nawaz Sharif declared a terrorist, handcuffed and sentenced to life imprisonment. Now it’s his turn.

Under similar circumstances, any God-fearing person would repent and beg for mercy, but not Musharraf. In Surah Naml it is written that Allah does not like the arrogant and boastful. In Surah Zumar, Allah has said that the abode of the arrogant is indeed in hell; and in Surah Momin, He said that He seals up the hearts of arrogant and obstinate transgressors.

Musharraf must be wondering why all these calamities are hitting him now after all his ‘good deeds’. Well, Surah Shuraa says that whatever misfortune befalls anyone, it is because of the things their hands have wrought and for many of them He still grants forgiveness.

Musharraf’s munafiqat, ie the contrast between his words and his deeds, is a serious wrongdoing in the eyes of Allah for which there is painful punishment here and in the hereafter.

While taking all those wrong decisions he forgot that Surah Ibrahim says that one should not think that Allah does not heed the deeds of wrongdoers. He but gives them respite against the day when their eyes will fixedly stare in horror. When seeing Musharraf being taken to court, this is exactly what one sees.

Email: dr.a.quadeer.khan@gmail.com