Men, Matters & Memories
M L Kotru
There was clear distress written over his closely cut bearded face when the man expressed his shock and surprise at the manner in which Gen. Musharraf had been denied bail in Islamabad one day last week. Ayaz Amir, the highly respected Pakistani journalist and a critic generally of his country’s military rulers, said as much and more in a subsequent interview. Why would a court refuse an extension of the six-day bail granted to him earlier? Would he have tried to flee the country when the authorities had already ensured that he would not be allowed past immigration at any of the airports.
And the man himself, knowing it fully well, that the judiciary was dead set on claiming its pound of flesh from him when he returned home, after his self- imposed four- year exile. He had given no indication of running away from the “battlefield”. He denied any such thoughts even after all his nomination papers, from as many as four constituencies, including Karachi and Kasur had been rejected on one ground or another.
Yes, a commando will continue to be one right to his last breath and he showed that, when he swept out of a crowded courtroom after his bail application was rejected, leaving lawyers and cops gasping as he hurried to the bullet-proof Toyota SUV that was to take him to his farm house in Chak Shahzad on the outskirts of Islamabad. He remained holed up there until authorities picked him up the next morning. The judiciary’s prize catch was finally shown his place at the Islamabad police headquarters on a two-day remand.
Yes, the General had rather defiantly rushed out of the court after hearing the verdict on his bail application which must have come naturally to the commando in him. Didn’t the commando in Musharraf brag only a few weeks ago from Dubai that he had indeed crossed the line of control in the Kargil sector in Jammu and Kashmir to spend the night with his troops there? He had done it because he felt it was the right thing to do.
So, how could you fault him if he chose to rush back to his farmhouse haven immediately after his plea was rejected by the court…… And not surprisingly, his lawyers who had pre-emptively attempted to file a re-arrest bail application in the Supreme Court, were thwarted by the Registrar who said his office had closed for the day so far as receiving such applications was concerned. So Musharraf in many senses was prepared for the worst, even if it meant surrendering voluntarily.
In the end though it seems the commando in him may have erred in the first place by choosing to contest elections knowing that the judiciary headed by Mohammad Ifitkhar Chaudhry, not particularly known for his probity or rectitude, was commited to humiliate him for the manner in which Musharraf had him removed from the court, and ordered the virtual house arrest of 60 odd judges. There are other charges against him including treason, subversion of the Constitution, murder of Benazir Bhutto and Akbar Bugti, the Baloch leader.
The poll process in Pakistan (polling is set for May 11) thus began on an inauspicious note with Musharraf, who had staked his all on his candidature, ruled out by the rejection of his four nomination papers. That apart, the campaign is now in full swing marked by much violence including the firing of a rocket last week poll meeting in Waziristan. The ever present fear of the terror strikes has naturally subdued the tone of the campaign. Many fear that the extremist violence may seriously dent the ongoing electoral process. The Awami National Party and Pakistan Peoples Party are among the prime targets of the Pakistani Taliban. Not that right-wing parties are safer Sanaullah Zehri a strongman of the Nawaz Muslim League in restive Balochistan lost a large part of his immediate family in one such bomb attack. Karachi, too, has witnessed many election-related violent incidents as distinct from the usual sectarian violence which would seem to be a normal for the city.
Additionally violence inspired by self-seeking vandals has, according to sources, become very much a part of the poll landscape, from the north western frontier areas (Pakhtoonkhwah province) to almost all other provinces. The idea obviously is to disrupt campaigning by the major political parties but so far without really bringing the process anywhere near a halt. The pro-democracy forces, particularly civil society as a whole appears determined to see the successful culmination of the election process.
Karachi, as I said, continues to be targeted by the goons but without denting the ardour of the workers of the MQM ( the organization of Pakistani migrant community from India numbering around four crores). A friend in Karachi tell me that “thanks to the MQM, my area has been relatively peaceful”. He doesn’t see poll-related violence escalating to an extent that could interrupt the elections, not alarmingly in any case. Of course, as he adds, given the deep-seated prejudices borne out of linguistic, religious and cultural divergence Karachi, the commercial hub of the country, is extremely volatile.
A minor incident involving a Pushtu-speaking man from, say, Peshawar or an Urdu-speaking ‘mohajir’, can instantly spark violence. Essentially, says my friend, it boils down to safety lying in numbers. If you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time you are certainly asking for trouble.
The MQM and PPP, not surprisingly, claim they will win big in Karachi and other heavily populated suburban areas. The cricketer turned politician Imran Khan and his Tehreek-i-Insaf continues to draw large crowds in Punjab and pockets of influence do exist for him in Sindh and the Frontier area as well.
The party is aware of terror-driven lawlessness which has marred the campaign in some areas. His manifesto the ‘Naya Pakistan plan’ lists six factors in its section on internal security; these include Taliban movement in Afghanistan, Pakistani Taliban trying to enforce Shariah, Kashmiri Jihadi forces working within the country, sectarian ( Shia-Sunni) violence, ethnic terrorism and violence in general.
It is a known fact that anti-India groups like the banned Hizb-e-Mujahideen operate openly from training camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir; most political parties are willing to accept this fact. Almost every party has made a clear pledge to support the Kashmiri Muslims’ right of self-determination. Some parties are openly accusing Indian armed forces of committing barbarities against the Kashmiri Muslims, apparently pandering to the wishes of groups like the Lahore-based Ladhkar-e-Toiba and its leader Hafiz Saeed.
Nawaz Sharif’s Muslim League (N) continues its dominance in Punjab even as the PPP claims it has widespread support in southern Punjab. All said and done, the stage is set for the battle for ballots on May 11. That’s if nothing untoward occurs between now and then. The Army, which, has remained virtually unmoved by the arrest of its former Chief, Gen. Musharraf, is obviously watching out with caution. Really so, time will tell.
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