Neither Enlightened nor Moderate

Nighat,
you have listed 25 points. Perhaps there are many more. We have all read about them so many times, have heard our intellectuals and not so intellectuals elaborate about them. But then who is responsible? Let me write about an encounter of a Pakistani journalist with the Indian Army Chief. This was in mid eighties. The journalist himself narrated it to me and I know him to be an upright person and he has no reason to make up the story. He was (according to him) part of the media team accompanying General Zia-ul-Haq to New Delhi. This journalist says he approached the India Army Chief at a gathering and requested for an interview. The India Army Chief asked him the reason why the journalist had picked him(Indian Army Chief) for this honour and also what in particular he wanted to ask. This journalist said that I asked him as to why doesn`t he (Army Chief) take over the reins of the Govt when things are so bad, poverty, corruption etc etc. The Indian Army Chief is quoted as saying that `dil to mera bhi karta hai, magar in se (pointing towards the people i.e the common man) dar lagta hai. yeh ek din bhi nahin chorain ge mujhe`. The reply reflects the strength of the people and how it prevents institutions from overstepping. It also reflects the respect that the institutions develop for the common man or in other words democratic traditions.
madam we may argue and advance counter arguments as to who is responsible for bringing us to a state where the the common man is least concerned or is unwilling to allow the concern to develop into a mass movement. The repeated failures of long marches and pro democracy movements has broken the will of the common man to take a stand against the undemocratic forces. For their selfish interests the politicians have compromised their only strenth, the people of this country. Unless the common man stands up against all this, you, me and thousands of others who can only write will continue to lament.

His `moderation enlightenment` is a tool to make Paksatan strong and in position to achieve his motives and intentions. He realized his old tactics had made Paksatan a pariah and an outcaste. He will try a different tactic. A cheetah doesn`t change its spots.

Don`t underestimate the lalas and Bahmans in Delhi. They know Musharaf.

Nighat,

Musharraf is now a necessary evil not only for Pakistan, but also for the US and even India. Hats off to him for making himself indispensable to the entire world :-). This guy is a real Chanakya :-).

Jokes aside, Musharraf has actually turned around Pakistan in a huge way. Not only in the Afghan and Kashmir policies but also the internal political culture within Pakistan. Clearly the jihadi elements in Pakistan are in a retreat. On top of that the economy is doing well. He has embraced good relations with India, which is already resulting in a peace dividend for both nations e.g. gas pipelines. The amazing this is that he has done all this without antagonizing the entire mullah brigade in Pakistan.

No elected government could have done all this in such a short period of time. Hopefully these changes are permanent and once he leaves the stage, Pakistan could transition towards a pluralistic democracy.

Mushy is fooling a lot of people - including the freaks in sitting in delhi [But then anybody can fool them].

So ``enlightened moderation`` is just a load of BS from the dictator.