Leading
lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan accompanies Mai to the Supreme Court in Islamabad
After
So Many Goof-Ups Can We Trust the Judgment of General Musharraf
By
Nighat Yasmeen
SARGODHA,
Pakistan, July 1: It would be an entirely superfluous endeavor
to discuss adding poor Mukhtaran Mai’s name on the notorious
“Exit Control List”, restricting her movement, taking
away her passport, crudely gagging her and idiotically barring
her from proceeding abroad, according to moral and legal norms.
Because, talking about morality, legalities and justice with our
incumbent rulers would be like asking stones to shed tears.
This
episode is not only outrageous and a sheer PR-disaster, it contains
within terrifying long-term consequences for the country. Beyond
ordinary human rights issues, there are a several more intriguing
aspects needed to be looked into. Thus, let’s set aside
all demands for propriety, turn a blind eye to even basic most
ethics for the sake of simplicity, keep it strictly confined to
non-normative precincts and dilate upon it through pragmatic lenses
alone.
The
manner in which a very simple, unnecessary issue had been handled,
sorry mishandled, right from the top most office-holder down to
foot soldiers, makes your skin crawl. Sure, disgusting it was
to observe the grisly treatment meted out to a hapless but pretty
sensible woman, actually much more disturbing was to discern the
total lack of analytical prowess of our rulers. If positive publicity
and preventing bad image for Pakistan was Mr Musharraf's goal,
he could not have chosen a worse strategy.
Observe,
now everyone is not just condemning Musharraf for this idiocy,
but also badmouthing Pakistan with an intensity seldom seen before.
A lot more worrisome side-effect is that an increasing number
of influential writers are also questioning Pakistan’s record
on assorted fronts not even remotely related to this issue. From
AQ affair to insurgency in Kashmir, anti-terrorism drive along
Afghan border, we are being scrutinized as never before.
For what? Only because of one man’s high handedness, his
total intellectual bankruptcy and his awful supporters and advisers.
"Leave it to me and I will not let Pakistan surrender to
the US or India," General Pervez Musharraf pledged to Kashmiri
leaders in a briefing in Rawalpindi recently. Likewise, when asked
last year if the world would pardon Dr Khan as he had done, the
General said: "Leave it to me. I am standing between Dr Khan
and the world community. Nothing will happen to him."
The
very pertinent question, we must ask today: Can this man be trusted?
His honesty has already been witnessed on a number of times –
may it be pledge not to perpetuate himself to not holding a bogus
referendum to doffing his uniform. His values and patriotism have
we already observed umpteen times – from the quality and
quantity of his ministers to the dismal performance of NAB to
orchestrating the complete rupture of judiciary and other civil
institutions.
If
there was any doubt left in any respect, the recent display of
his superb administrative skills and palpable mental insanity
has shattered that one too.
To
tell the truth, instead of a seasoned statesman, he behaves more
like a half-mad janitor. He does not allow some Pakistani citizens
to enter the country, an unambiguous ruling from the Supreme Court
of Pakistan notwithstanding. To some he does not allow to leave
no matter if not accused of even jumping the red light at traffic
crossing. It vividly shows why and how he will end up damaging
Pakistan’s interest while trying to do exactly the opposite.
It is all so depressing.
Do we afford this one-man spoof
as a nation state? Some collective soul-searching would be well
advised.
The
chain of events makes one shudder. Taken together that it all
reportedly started with an ex-army chief, currently posted as
Pakistan’s envoy to Washington, ordering the Foreign Office
in Islamabad to stop Mukhtaran Mai coming to the United States,
it is hard not to marvel about the mental and moral horizon of
our star officers. In particular, when the general-ambassador
in question was projected as “intellectual general”
during his tenure.
I
can bet 90 per cent rickshaw drivers plying the roads of Pakistan
would have shown better judgment in analogous circumstances than
the infinite wisdom of two consecutive Chiefs of Army Staff put
together – without ever crossing the well-guarded gates
of fabulous Staff College.
The
book Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak
Out Against John Kerry by John E. O'Neill and Jerome R. Corsi,
which claimed Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry lied
to get his Vietnam medals, is widely held to have damaged the
Massachusetts senator's campaign. In due course, a possible future
book, Mukhtaran Mai: Exposing a Tin-pot Dictator & His
Perverted Moderation, will cost Musharraf his uniform as
well as his presidency.
Apropos
the legendary valor and celebrated steadfastness of our commando
savior, it would be interesting to mention that a call of PA to
Under Secretary, South Asia at the State Department was enough
to make him take another U-turn, yet again - in supreme national
interests. Past a general-salute to Daddy Bush on video telephone,
travel restrictions on Mukhtaran were instantly lifted, her passport
promptly delivered back.
A
commander with this analytical prowess and moral values, would
be a danger not only to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan but also
to entire South Asia, if not beyond. Entrusting him nuclear weapons
on one hand and leaving the fate of 160 million in his hands on
the other is nothing less than a suicide attempt. Interestingly
suicide attempt is also cognizable offence in Pakistan, the land
of the pure.
Mr Musharraf and his uniformed colleagues seem to have some obnoxious
fetish taking the rape victims off the screen and let the rapists
roam free. In Dr. Shazia case too, the principal accused were
giving TV interviews, the victim was under protective custody.
The
writer is the famous hard-hitting housewife from Sargodha. Some
of her writings are:
If Army acts like a Political Party, why not a Forward Bloc in
it
Some Burning Questions in Need of Urgent Answers
A Housewife's Open Letter to Pakistan's Chief Justice
Sharifuddin Pirzada: Administering Miscarriage of Justice for
Decades
Gory Tale of How Top Army Generals Have Let Us Down
Now Even Banana Republics are Looking Better Than Pakistan
Why Can't Musharraf Trust His Own Well Qualified Generals of the
Army
A Housewife's Evaluation of Pakistan Army's Top Command Structure
The Infamous List of Actions Belying Musharraf's 'Enlightened
Moderation'
