Musharraf : Self Styled Saviour Stuck in a Rut

HisExcellency # 30

`` When Muslims ruled the world, they were also leaders in the realm of ideas and technology. Then Europe lived in the Dark Ages, while the Islamic world produced scientists, mathematicians and philosophers. Jews and Christians would travel to Baghdad, Cairo, Damascus and Jerusalem to seek knowledge. ``

Muslims ruled the world ?? Arabs ruled the middle east and parts of Europe. How come Indians or Chinese never visited Middle East for knowledge ?

plats8 #53 I am all for humor on chowk. I was just wondering what I had written that irked hamidm, and await his response.

As for the hiring of teachers from india, i think this is a piece of nonsense and agree with your point on this being a two-way street. After all, pakistan has as many educated unemployed as in india who would be as happy to go teach in india as there are indians who would be glad to get a job teaching in pakistan.

tahmed #46,
I do think that you`re being unfair to hamidm here. He is perhaps the most
humorous interactor here, and it is clear to me that his multiple references to
alcohol are to lend levity to the discussion. His condemnation of the horrible
hindoos is in the same vein - slightly exaggarated but essentially true
statements. I cannot tell how accurate his assessment of Pakistan and it`s
people are but suspect that it is marginally embellished reality as well.

On a different note, hiring university level teachers from India is an idea that
Pervez Hoodbhoy had suggested over a year ago. He also knew fully well that
it isn`t going to happen anytime soon, given the political hubris. I think it
is grossly unfair to put the blame on Pakistan, however - seriously doubt that
India would act differently if the roles were reversed.

Here are the Meanderings of Massihul Mulk Musharraf -- as enunciated by Pakistani Journalist Shaheen Sahbai:

(khoob beemar ka elaaj kiya/aur haalut kharab kur daalee)


1. As Army Chief, Musharraf rallied all Corps Commanders to take a vow that if the political prime minister tried to assert his authority on the new army chief, as he had done with General Jahangir Karamat, who was forced to resign, the Army would stage a coup d’etat.

That laid the seeds of violating the Constitution, even when there was no apparent reason. The conspiracy was already hatched.

2. As Army Chief, Musharraf went to Abbaji, the father of the then Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, in Raiwind, and asked him to replace the PM with his brother Shahbaz Sharif, who was then Chief Minister of Punjab.

That day, he lost the confidence of the PM, for good and was then not to be trusted. (This was recorded by me in an interview with Abbaji, published in Daily ‘Dawn’ in August of 2000.)

3. As Army Chief Musharraf refused to obey the Prime Minister and support his peace initiative with India, when Vajpayee was invited to Pakistan for the famous bus trip. That decision signaled to the world that Pakistan was still a banana republic with the power in the hands of the army and civilians were helpless.

4. As Army Chief Musharraf launched the Kargil operation which ended in a disaster and killing of 4000 Pakistan Army men (according to Nawaz Sharif’s latest statement made on Aug 14, 2003 at a protest rally in Lahore). Kargil has become the ultimate credibility factor for Musharraf and Pakistan Army as no one trusts him after that.

5. After October `99 coup, he made some right sounding noises about a liberal and modern Pakistan, but soon slipped into the mould of a traditional self-perpetuating dictator, negating everything he said earlier. He twisted the Supreme Court judgment in Zafar Ali Shah case to grab powers and extend his tenure.

6. In the April Referendum his decision-making power was exposed to the limit as the referendum took away 90 per cent of his credibility as a sincere and honest army commander who, he repeatedly and dishonestly claimed, had been forced into the October coup without ever intending it. The referendum was the beginning of his end as a credible leader.

7. He made appointments which exposed his decision-making powers.

A Brigadier, illegally promoted as Major General, was made his chief spokesman and all agreed he was a disaster. Maleeha Lodhi was made Ambassador to US, again proving that he could not make a better judgment of personalities. Javed Jabbar was made Information Minister, only to be removed after he ended up with media disaster, specially turning the General’s first UN/US visit in September 2000 into a war between the Pakistani Press and the Army.

8. Perverted legal wizard, Sharifuddin Pirzada, was pressed again into service thereby sending the message to Pakistan that further rape and disfiguring of the Constitution was in the works. The LFO which came out proved that was a major disaster, still hanging around the General’s neck.

9. His takeover as President, removing the compliant Rafiq Tarar, brought him into a situation which gave birth to the now universal demand for separation of the presidency from the army chief’s post.

10. An open and shut case of bribing the top judges of the Supreme Court, by extending their retirement age, brought charges against the Army, but almost crippled the superior judiciary when the lawyers’ community revolted and refused to work with these tainted judges. Nothing could have damaged the Supreme Court more than this one decision.

11. Come 9/11 and Musharraf was swept by the force of the strong current into making many decisions, some out of sheer helplessness and some deliberate.

His famous U-Turns on Taliban and Jihadis could be justified as he had no choice BUT his decision to secretly support the religious extremists in local bodies’ elections first and then in October general elections backfired with such ferocity, he is still not able to get out of the mess.

To this date the Mayor of Karachi is from Jamaat Islami, the party which refuses to accept Musharraf as a legitimate president in uniform. And everyone knows how Mayors were selected, not elected, by the Army and ISI.

12. After the October polls, Musharraf shed all pretence of honesty, ethics and morality in the name of “pragmatism” and started to act like any corrupt politician he so publicly denounced. When a Washington-based journalist asked him recently how he should be judged because the “company he was keeping” was of corrupt and dishonest politicians, Musharraf got very angry.

13. How good was his decision to associate the Choudhries of Gujrat, the turn-coats of PPP, the MQM of Altaf Bhai with his regime is now evident. It was his sheer selfishness which forced him into these gross mistakes and the entire Army as an institution is now being made to pay.

14. His choice of Mr. Zafarullah Jamali as Prime Minister is now turning out to be another disaster. And he himself says so. He may be thinking of replacing him with another of his more loyal and obedient servants, probably Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz. That would be another and a bigger blunder.

15. Just in the case of MQM, Musharraf’s interview to the Guardian of London on May 16, 2001 is a classic example of his double talk and capacity to make wrong decisions. Rory McCarthy and Luke Harding had this Q&A with him about MQM as part of their detailed interview:

Q: There is one other Pakistani politician in the UK at the moment, Altaf Hussain, who has just been given a British passport while he is facing several criminal cases in this country. What was your reaction when you heard the news?

A: I certainly wouldn`t say that I am too happy about it, because Britain must understand that such political asylums being given to people who may be have worked against or are working against the interest of Pakistan should be given more serious thought before taking such action.

Q: Will you make an effort to bring him back to Pakistan to face trial?

A: I haven`t given this a thought really. I don`t think he has any place in Pakistani politics. I would like to stabilize the political environment in Pakistan, and in this effort certainly Karachi and Sindh need the stability which is going on at the moment, so I don`t want to create waves in the waters at all.

16. Then, after a political deal, when MQM’s man was appointed Sindh Governor, Musharraf flatly denied there was ever any case against him registered in Karachi. He conveniently forgot that he himself had accused Mr. Altaf Hussain of working against the interests of Pakistan and had categorically stated that Mr. Hussain had any place in Pakistani politics. Now he is a close ally with a central place in that very politics.

17. When Musharraf ditched his benefactors, Generals Mahmood and Aziz, under US pressure, it appeared to be a decision which was beyond his powers to resist. But when he started insisting that he would not take off his uniform until all of his Army colleagues including Aziz, his deputy COAS General Yousaf (Joe) and General Tauqir Zia, retire, it became clear Musharraf was now playing games with all of them.

The result is that these Generals have started talking to Musharraf’s opponents, secretly sending messages, urging them not to drop the demand that he take off his uniform and give a date.

When Musharraf acts in his own selfish interest, others who are below him are expected to do the same. The unity of the Army as an institution goes out of the window.

18. This cracking up within the army ranks made Musharraf to demand from his Corps Commanders recently that they issue an unprecedented and highly objectionable political statement assuring Musharraf of their support and asking him to keep his uniform whenever he wanted.

The very need for such a statement betrayed the lack of confidence Musharraf had in his junta. Of course when asked by the Chief to issue a statement, who can say no. But within their hearts, many would have felt the need to do something against this dictator who was now dictating to even his own colleagues.

19. His decision to agree to revert the retirement age of the Supreme Court judges, against dealt a severe blow to his credibility as a dependable person. These judges went out of their way and risked their name and credibility to give him a lame excuse to remain in power.

But the moment Musharraf saw that he could get support of a stronger political forum, the MMA in this case which could legitimize his unconstitutional rule in Parliament, he was ready to dump the judges. Now can he depend on the same judges to get another judgment in his favor, if needed?

20. Likewise he has been talking to everyone,including his avowed adversaries like Asif Ali Zardari, to get a supporting hand. Whenever he thinks he may succeed, he sends vibes that others could be ditched. This has made him into a subject of jokes.

The latest says if Fazal supports him he would kick Qazi, if Qazi supports him, he would kick Patriots, if everybody supports him, he would kick himself.

21. In foreign affairs, his decisions have largely been dictated from abroad, but the ones he took himself, like the Agra summit, he bungled badly.

Now after two years he has to eat humble pie and beg for a summit with Vajpayee again in New York. He punctured the Lahore bus in 1999 but had to push start it himself in 2003. How sound then were his judgments in the past?

22. His Afghan policy is in a mess with a hostile western neighbor now harassing Pakistan troops amid serious talk that India may send its troops into Afghanistan as part of ISAF.

That his secret support to Taliban and the recent activity from Pakistan soil against US troops will ultimately land him into deeper trouble, is just a matter of time.

Dozens of other examples can be quoted here to show that Musharraf as a `man of vision` is not a dependable person. His vision is flawed. His decision-making powers are below average and his instincts are fatalistic.

The man has proved in these recent years that he is incapable of leading a complex country like Pakistan. If people like Irshad Haqqani have realized this fact, others who will have to face the brunt of his decisions, sooner than later, should realize it as well, and quickly.

How many mistakes can Pakistan afford and what if one blows up everything. (SAT)

re: Dost-Mittar # 49

The answer is Anwar Mahmood, the secretary of information. Anwar was a press attache in Pakistan`s embassy in Ottawa in the early 1980s, when he was involved in a shady land deal with the ambassdor and another diplomat, Riffat Mehdi, who would later become Pakistan`s High Commissioner to Ottawa. The three gentlemen sold off a part of the real estate in Rockcliffe, which was the offical residence of the Pakistani ambassdor/high commissioner and never told the foreign office and pocketed the cash.

Anwar was responsible for the idea of the referandum. Do not underestimate this gentleman. Military men, Sandhurst trained or not, are not inclined towards these acts of political legitimacy, but the bureaucrats who serve are addicated to them. Zia was not a Sandhurst trained anything, but he still followed the jaded advice and made a hash of everything.

Ciao

...hahaha...everyone is calling tahmed on it now...

hamidm2#39
Dont be so hard on yourself. In all fairness, Musharraf (esp. Shaukat Aziz) in his first two and a half years did administer some much needed bitter medicine which no populous leader could have done.
My feeling is that the Pakistani men in khaki suffer from some kind of Sandhurst effect. After a while, they have this itch for democratic legitimacy when they start holding fake referendums, elections, other political machinations, which is when they start checkmating themselves. If Pakistan had followed the sensible path Ayub followed in the first 4-5 years of his rule, it would have been another Korea or Taiwan by now - both prosperous and democratic.

arjum_m at # 42:

Like I said earlier, you do not have brains. Therefore, you may be copying and pasting prolifically under my advice, but why is that:

1. An Indian is arrested in selling armament to the terrorists.
2. Its Indian companies who have been selling dangerous chemicals to ousted Saddam`s regime.
3. A huge majority of 52 most wanted Iraki scoundrels have been found to be educated in Indian institutions.

OH btw, have you found the answer to my long posed question i.e. what was the name of the ``cross border terrorist`` whose condom ruptured in your case? The 1st letter of the surname you carry i.e. `m` suggests that it was either Musharraf or Mahatir.

hamidm #39 ``he irks me, him and that other know it all, tahmed!``

Do I really sound like a ``know it all``? As a favor to me (seriously) could you show me something I have written where I sound like this? If you dont, I will simply assume that you are irked by people who dont stand up and applaud every time you play the martyred alcohol drinker, or who dont agree with your blanket condemnation and ridicule of pakistani (and hindu) culture, now that you are sitting in the safety and comfort of the US. I am sure this last sentence irks you too.

Regarding this talk of importing teachers. I assume it will be from an English speaking country. With India being out of the picture, that leaves US Canada or England. A College level, teacher makes about sixty-eighty thousand dollars in US. To induce him to go to a country like Pakistan to teach, you would have to pay him twice, that is if there are any takers at that price. How is Pakistan going to afford that.

hey arjun_m:

i did not know that problems had advanced to such an extent. even your potent comebacks are loosing all venom. sort of like watching kapil dev`s bowling at the end his cricketing career. sad.

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hey arjun_m:

i see that the trip you made to india to find a down home cure for your problem did not work either. otherwise, your brain would have started to function and thus you would have stopped making a fool out of yourself at every turn by making comical assertions like you know more than cia, or that cia does not have access to the same news reports that you have access to, or that cia knows whats going on but it is not doing anything to stop it because it wants another sep 11, or that third-rate dictators of tin-pot banana republics can pull a fast one over uncle sam.

still, my friend dont loose all hope. try that new drug that is about to be pitched by coach ditka and see how that goes.

ironman

``I`d like to see someone give hamidm a few points here. He predicted 4 years ago everything that has indeed come to pass in Mushy`s pakistan.``

..... thanks, but i think you are being too kind .........like all other pakis i am an idiot when it comes to politics and sex ...... (we will talk about the sex later)...... but after field marshall romair pestered me for a while, i gave in and was ready to give musharraf the benefit of doubt and for a while thought that he would actually hold elections and go back to the langar and pakistan would become a bleeding democracy ................ our resident expert on the military ( and everything else) assured me that musharraf was an honorable man (like imran khan) and in spite of being a fairly smart guy i fell for his bs ............ he irks me, him and that other know it all, tahmed!.......... i should have stuck to my belief in the fact that even though all politicians are rascals, they are a lot better than fools in khaki and mullahs without underwear ............ look at lallu bihari, modi, that actress woman down south, and all those other corrupt politicians on the wrong side of the border, including indira and her bribe taking sons ............... for god`s sake, look at rostonkowski and that buffoon traficant from ohio .......... these clowns landed in jail after spending a life time in congress ............so what?.........they served their people well while they were in office and made a few million on the side - so what? ......... expecting a politician to be honest is like expecting a prostitute to be a virgin - ain`t gonna happen!.........

............ even now these fools are going on and on about how corrupt bb and ns were, and how much better mushy is and how we have no other option ............... nonsense!............that is exactly what the goons in khaki want us to believe and every time they see wapda being taken over by the civilians they come up with this clever argument .............bb was fine, ns was even better .......... a little heavy handed, but better than the army - his minions might have tried to climb over the wall of the supreme court but they did not put tanks outside the gate!...........so what is my plan? .......... let bb and ns come back, ban the mullahs from running in elections (separation of church and state and all that stuff or simply say they are too ugly to be seen in public) , and exile mushy to boston ......... the politicians can then get on with the business of making a mess of things untill they figure out how to make things work or untill the next election ............the army should do what it does best - make corn flakes, cement and fertilizer .................

.......... once you buy into the fact that the army is an option for ruling the country, you will never get rid of them ......... the paki public, led by simple-minded folks like romair, buy into this kaka and then complain when it sticks to their shoes ..................

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