A Letter To President Musharraf

Dear Mr. President,

I am no foreigner. I am a Pakistani. I have no dual nationality and no assets abroad. I live and work in Pakistan, and I don’t plan to leave it. My vested interest is my country’s prosperity. I carry only a green passport with as much pride as it will afford me. When I pass through long immigrations desk lines I find that smiling helps. Right now, however, I don’t feel much like smiling. Twelve hundred kafans have been ordered to lay the bodies that were killed in a government operation last night. 500 people are already dead. Of 400 beleaguered orphans taking refuge at what was to them but a shelter, 200 have died brutal deaths. But of course these are figures that will never see the light of day. And I have been advised not to quote them. No official counts have been declared. All we have been told is that 10 SSG commandos are dead and 33 are wounded at the end of the first phase of this operation. As for the hundreds of victims of this senseless bloodshed, they are being transported to an army hospital, where their numbers will magically reduce, as if our arm of Defense is privy to the elixir of life, and like so much else, is not willing to share it with us mere civilians. At least we know why this is “Operation Silence”.

How did it come to this? Is this Ayub Khan’s legacy for granting land to Maulana Abdullah, (father of the Ghazi brothers), so he could establish the Lal Masjid, for political objectives we’ll never really know? Is it Zia-ul-Haq’s legacy, under whose regime the Mullah turned militant, delivered speeches on jihad and aided the Afghan war against the Soviets? Or is it yours, Mr. President?

I have been watching news coverage, both local and international. The only thing that is said with any confidence, Mr. President, is that you have killed the ‘militants’. It is reported that you have annihilated a group of extremists who threatened enlightened moderation. Your international image will soften till the next crisis inevitably raises its ugly head but have you thought about the sentiments of the people you are supposed to lead? Someone described it best when they said that our relationship with the West was one of debauched love. When they no longer need us, we are conveniently forgotten. But while that makes them our demon lovers, what exactly is it that it makes us, who run back to them every time they pick up a phone and call?

Mr. President, are you not aware how many whore houses operate in the capital? Are you not aware that in every sector of Islamabad alcohol is readily available? Has none of your 40 advisors as yet brought this to your attention? Has no one realized that what these extremist fanatics have been raging about actually contains a grain of truth amidst all their madness and lack of reason? It is a grain of truth that may sadly now be manipulated to subvert the more critical truth of their outraging militancy.

Mr. President, if you do not take timely action against activities that are unacceptable within an Islamic Republic – then those activities WILL culminate in senseless kidnappings of Chinese masseurs, abductions of women allegedly running brothels and then the bloodshed, as they have today. The real question that nags me is did you WANT to take timely action? You have been quoted as having said that "I will order action if the media promises it will not show dead bodies." Is image your only priority?

The red mosque is a stones throw away from the ISI headquarters. What is more, a number of ISI staff are said to offer their prayers on its premises regularly. Was our intelligence agency not aware of how these weapons and rockets were procured by the mullahs at the red mosque? Were our intelligence officers really that busy invading the personal life of the CJ and other officials, however corrupt they may be? If mosques and madrassah’s in the CAPITAL that are situated in the shadow of our intelligence force cannot be controlled, how do you hope to control similar monsters across the country?

Maulana Abdul Aziz Ghazi was arrested a few years ago. Why was he released if he was a known terrorist? Did you need him for something? When he was caught while trying to escape in a gaggle of girls clad in a burqa, I hope you noticed how amused we all were. How we all thought how cowardly this “jihadi” is. But when your Minister for Religious Affairs said on a local news channel today that your priority was to “save as many innocent lives as possible” (not “every man counts”, but “as many as possible!”), I was alarmed. Your people say you tried “your level best”. I am embarrassed that this is what level best looks like.
All the hospitals of Islamabad were closed for the general public and press and were under the observation of the police. HOSPITALS were CLOSED, Mr. President. The Press is being kept in the dark. Meanwhile the BBC has this to say about you: “As the nation inches closer to elections later in the year and a decision from General Musharraf on his dual role as president and army chief, he will be focusing all his energies on getting just one message across: He is still the West’s best bet against radical Islam who can move decisively as and when needed… Whatever the level of truth or reality in this assertion, it is a political reality he is desperate to create as he heads for a make-or-break phase in his eighth year in power.” (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6274018.stm)

I enjoyed your autobiography thoroughly, Mr. President. I was charmed by your heroism. Suspending disbelief, I embraced everything you claimed with a sense of pride. But right now I only stand disappointed at my own naiveté. Mr. President, if you, who as the chief of the army staff, has taken a firm stance about not abandoning your uniform, if you could not control these militants then how do you expect us to stand by you? If you cannot be a good dictator, perhaps you should return to the barracks and restore that ever so bad democracy in our land.

Mr. President – we do not desire any more simpleton rhetoric or illogical declarations. We want you to take positions and then stick to them. We want you to rise above politics and power, and open our eyes to LIFE. We want to allow alcohol and its attendant sins, regulate them, and use them to generate MUCH NEEDED revenue, or ban them once and for all, and we want to VOTE on which of these two courses to follow! A REAL vote! We do NOT wish to engage in power struggles over who has jurisdiction to punish indecency. We want a government that knows exactly what jurisdictional powers it possesses, not one that struggles to stand its ground in the face of a handful of people who have previously been empowered by the very same government.

We want to focus on helping our own people in Balochistan, who have suffered at the hands of a natural calamity. We want to know why the organization called “Doctors WITHOUT Borders” (capitals are mine) will not send their volunteers to our afflicted brethren when we need all the help we can get? I would have loved to see the money spent on “Operation Silence” used instead to provide clean water, medicines and medical aid to the flood victims. The last thing we want is to always be cleaning up a self-created mess. We don’t want to hide skeletons anymore.

I’ve heard a lot of talk from your government about how you had no choice. How this military action was the only logical solution to a grave problem. I have also heard admissions of mishandling the issue from those who represent you. And yes, I would never want to be dragged to a mosque as a prisoner for some concocted reason or another. And yes, I appreciate that these are difficult decisions, often taken in the name of the good of the many. But why did these damned militants become so powerful in the first place? Why do I, a Pakistani, have to endure a documentary on CNN that declares MY country a rogue state and MY leader an ineffectual man who needs the West to help save him? There is always a choice, Mr. President.

We want a free press, we want an independent judiciary, we want a strong executive, and we want legislators who are loyal to the COUNTRY, not a theology, philosophy or political ideology. And we want to know that we count. Not “as many as possible” of us, but each and every one of us. So what is it going to be Mr. President? Will you lead the people of Pakistan? And if, in all good conscience, you feel that you cannot stand in the line of fire, will you make way for someone who can?

Sincerely,
Khadija Malik-Hassan
Pakistani