tagged w/ Pervez Musharraf
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The U.S. terror war as seen through the eyes of a prisoner
When we first began corresponding with Khalid Awan in 2007, we had no idea why he was serving time in U.S. federal prison. We soon discovered Awan was one of the first of thousands of Muslims taken prisoner in the post-9/11 U.S. “terror war.” As the story began unfolding in our letters, we began to realize that this honest, humble and sincere man was not only innocent, but the ongoing injustice being done to him provides critical insight into the mindless, meanspirited, bureaucratic-yes-men idiocy fueling the illegal U.S. “war on terror” (and just about everything else that is going wrong in this country). At our insistence, Awan wrote his story and supplied us with whatever documents we requested. And now, after three months of cooperative efforts, the story of Khalid Awan can be told. We have come to know Awan as a peaceful man engaged in peaceful work who has been wrongfully accused, detained and repeatedly convicted of crimes he did not commit because he was a Muslim with international connections and an office in New York on 9/11. We present this to you in faith that you will realize a deeper understanding of the levels of complicity necessary for the “land of the free” to tolerate the phony war on terror year after year and in hope that Awan—and all the other million or more political prisoners being held by this country—will one day be reunited with their families.
Khalid Awan # 50959-054
USP Marion
P.O.BOX : 1000
Marion, IL 62959
USA
http://www.freekhalidawan.com/,
http://blogs.amnesty.org.uk/blogs_entry.asp?eid=3759,
http://awankhalid.com/,
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=60600467317The U.S. terror war as seen through the eyes of a prisoner
When we first began... more
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India Thinks it can help corner Pakistan along with the international community, under the banner of "anti terrorism" and continue to conduct it's own terror campaigns in the Kashmir conflict. Why is it that India is allowed to spend all and any aid it receives towards its military, largely pitted against Pakistan, and when Pakistan does anything of that sort, it is chastised.India Thinks it can help corner Pakistan along with the international community, under... more
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Sans Papiers
The youth of our age, surrounded by a swarm of difficulties and problems is in search of a solution, but what he eventually finds is more and more of difficulties and disappointments. When unemployed and poverty numbs all his senses, paralyzes all his muscles, he feels life is nothing but a futile effort, a bottomless pit of poverty and indigence. According to one estimate, in past 10 years, around 10 thousand Pakistanis have been killed by security forces, crossing Greece-Turkey border illegally. In pursuit of an ever evading happiness, who are these ill-informed people and who are the traffickers involved in this heinous trade of human trafficking. The real issue is how come the educated ones of our country fall prey to these human traffickers. Poverty and related problems are the main reasons behind human trafficking and illegal immigration. Your pursuit of happiness can bring this much misery and suffering, one can only know by meeting the people under Custody of FIA, who have recently been deported from the Turkey Border. It seems an obvious enough advice to have a safe albeit simple life at home, than to a have risky prosperous life abroad. But mired deeply in the troubled waters, it’s only dreams of a happy living that make these people go through all sorts of troubles.
I just pray that my country Pakistan finds a leader, a person who can improve the situation in our country, so that no one thinks about leaving this country and going through this humiliation This heinous crime of Illegal immigration, despite efforts by the State, is flourishing. One obvious contributors of this crime are the people who become a victim of agents’ treacherous promises, lost their lives’ savings and became a victim of dark alleys.
The question that haunts us all is till what time these traffickers would dupe the gullible of their livelihoods and till what time the carcasses of the youth of our country would be feasted by the beasts in unknown wildernesses.
Directed and Produced By
Kazim Raza
Masmedia Productions
Pakistan
923333705114Sans Papiers
The youth of our age, surrounded by a swarm of difficulties and... more
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Kazim
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3 months ago
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Demonstrators outside the Islamabad Stock Exchange in July
The UK's Daily Telegraph reports that Pakistan may be the first nation to go bankrupt as a result of the continuing global financial meltdown.
Officially, the central bank holds $8.14 billion (£4.65 billion) of foreign currency, but if forward liabilities are included, the real reserves may be only $3 billion - enough to buy about 30 days of imports like oil and food.
Nine months ago, Pakistan had $16 bn in the coffers.
The government is engulfed by crises left behind by Pervez Musharraf, the military ruler who resigned the presidency in August. High oil prices have combined with endemic corruption and mismanagement to inflict huge damage on the economy.
Given the country's standing as a frontline state in the US-led "war on terrorism", the economic crisis has profound consequences. Pakistan already faces worsening security as the army clashes with militants in the lawless Tribal Areas on the north-west frontier with Afghanistan.
... Mr Zardari told the Wall Street Journal that Pakistan needed a bail out worth $100 billion from the international community.
"If I can't pay my own oil bill, how am I going to increase my police?" he asked. "The oil companies are asking me to pay $135 [per barrel] of oil and at the same time they want me to keep the world peaceful and Pakistan peaceful."
The ratings agency Standard and Poor's has given Pakistan's sovereign debt a grade of CCC +, which stands only a few notches above the default level.
The economic crisis might yet end Pakistan's newly elected government, which is facing a crisis of confidence already as it battles 25% inflation, a drowning currency and a President with a reputation as "Mr 10%" for past corruption. It's also unclear that even a $100 billion bailout would be enough to stave off Pakistan's money woes, since the security situation is itself feeding the economic crisis there - investors don't want to know about a nation so obviously on the verge of failure.
Nor is it certain that even the US and Western allies will care to throw such a large sum of money into Pakistan. Sure, they could probably secure protestations of working harder to enact economic reforms after the mismanagement of the Musharraf years and to more strongly pursue the War on Terror, but what would those promises be worth? The question "whose side is Pakistan on?" is being asked in NATO circles nowadays, and more are coming to the conclusion that the Pakistani feudal elite are content to play the West for all it is worth while caring precious little for their own people's fate. Then again, Pakistan has nukes and the prospect of a truly failed state there is a terrible one to contemplate. As usual with that nation, the situation is a Gordian Knot created by decades (dating back at least to Reagan and the Russian invasion of Afghanistan) of local and Western leaders ignoring very real problems. It's a knot with no easy, or short-term, solution. It will take decades of strategic containment, careful stick and carrots, law enforcement outwith Pakistan to catch the terrorists it gives safe haven to and some simple truth-telling to roll all that back. There are no fixes with a timeline of less than decades.
And, as John Robb at Global Guerrillas writes, don't expect Pakistan to be the last nation to find itself on the financial brink.
The global financial system is much LARGER, FASTER, and COMPLEX than the nation-states that are trying to bail them out. As a result, nation-state intervention won't return things to the status quo. What it will do, however, is tightly couple western nation-states to the now inevitable failure in the financial system (this is akin to lashing a dingy to the Titanic to prevent it from sinking). The rampant proliferation of bankrupt and hollow states is now likely inevitable.Demonstrators outside the Islamabad Stock Exchange in July
The UK's Daily Telegraph... more
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It went down to the wire. Would he or wouldn't he resign?
When President Pervez Musharraf announced his resignation mid-way into his one-hour address to the Pakistani nation today, the news came as a shock to many aides, pundits and journalists who were expecting him to resign only after fighting the charges against him. Musharraf had been under immense pressure from the newly elected coalition government to either resign or face impeachment charges for gross misconduct and violations of the constitution during his nine years of absolute military rule
It went down to the wire. Would he or wouldn't he resign?
When President Pervez... more
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The revamped war on terror: Who's who in Pakistan's tribal areas. Part 2
In the second part of this series, Pakistan analyst Khawar Mehdi explains to Pepe Escobar how US forces crossed from Afghanistan to Pakistan in hot pursuit, in their raid on the tribal areas on September 2. Mehdi identifies the key tribal leaders the US is after, from fabled Mujahideen Jalaluddin Haqqani, a veteran of the jihad in the 1980s, to Baitullah Mahsud, the leader of the Tehrik-e-Taliban, the top Taliban group in the Pakistani tribal areas. The aims and strategies of different groups are also discussed. Included is rare, recent footage shot in North and South Waziristan.
Khawar Mehdi, born in Rawalpindi, is a Pakistani journalist and political analyst. Even before 9/11 he had advised numerous journalists, academics and researchers from North America and Europe working in the tribal areas of Pakistan and in Afghanistan. In 2004 he was imprisoned and tortured by President Pervez Musharraf's regime while investigating the presence of Taliban training camps inside Pakistan. He was released thanks to an international media campaign - after a personal intervention by Musharraf. Mehdi has unparalleled access to sources in Pakistan's FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas). He has been living in Virginia since 2005, working as an analyst/consultant.
See Part 1 at: http://current.com/items/89316301_the_revamped_war_on_terror_exposed
See Part 3 at: http://current.com/items/89318873_al_qaeda_and_jihad_s_tribal_connections
See Part 4 at: http://current.com/items/89323433_pakistani_army_protected_bin_laden_and_taliban
The revamped war on terror: Who's who in Pakistan's tribal areas. Part 2
In the... more
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How Pakistan reacts against US Special Forces in the tribal areas. Part 1
This is the first part of a series on the new face of the "war on terror" in the Pakistan-Afghanistan region. This follows the latest US Special Forces operations inside Pakistan in the last few days. Journalist and analyst Khawar Mehdi tells Pepe Escobar about the main political players involved; the strain the new US strategy puts over the Pakistani military and government; the ways Pakistani public opinion and tribal area Pashtuns are angrily reacting to it; and the consequences of renewed anti-US sentiment spreading to most sectors of Pakistani society.
Khawar Mehdi, born in Rawalpindi, is a Pakistani journalist and political analyst. Even before 9/11 he had advised numerous journalists, academics and researchers from North America and Europe working in the tribal areas of Pakistan and in Afghanistan. In 2004 he was imprisoned and tortured by President Pervez Musharraf's regime while investigating the presence of Taliban training camps inside Pakistan. He was released thanks to an international media campaign - after a personal intervention by Musharraf. Mehdi has unparalleled access to sources in Pakistan's FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas). He has been living in Virginia since 2005, working as an analyst/consultant.
See Part 2 at: http://current.com/items/89316341_who_s_in_us_line_of_fire_in_pak_tribal_areas
See Part 3 at: http://current.com/items/89318873_al_qaeda_and_jihad_s_tribal_connections
See Part 4 at: http://current.com/items/89323433_pakistani_army_protected_bin_laden_and_taliban
How Pakistan reacts against US Special Forces in the tribal areas. Part 1
This is... more
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Asif Ali Zardari has been elected the new president of Pakistan. He is the US-leaning widower of Benazir Bhutto, a former politician and campaigner for democracy who was killed in a suicide attack in December 2007, and had been widely tipped to win the race.
Members of parliament and its four provincial assemblies voted for a successor to Pervez Musharraf, who resigned last month. It's hoped that the ballot results will bring stability after months of political and economic turmoil, but the president will spend his first few months tackling problems such as militant violence and the falling rupee.
The news of Zardari's election comes after a suicide bomb attack killed 10 in Peshawar today. Asif Ali Zardari has been elected the new president of Pakistan. He is the US-leaning... more
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richjm
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1 year ago
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Gunmen in the Pakistani port city of Karachi set fire to two armored personnel carriers (APCs) bound for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, police said on Monday.
There have been reports Islamist militants had threatened to start attacking supplies bound for American in Afghanistan in Karachi, where many supplies arrive before being trucked overland into Afghanistan.
This comes in the midst of a deteriorating political crisis engulfing the Pakistan government since the ousting of President Pervez Musharraf.Gunmen in the Pakistani port city of Karachi set fire to two armored personnel... more
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Pakistan's fragile ruling coalition is at risk of being pulled apart today, setting the stage for a major political showdown two weeks before the country's politicians choose a new president.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, head of the second-largest party in the coalition, has laid down a Monday deadline for the reinstatement of judges sacked by Pervez Musharraf, who resigned as president last week.
But it was unclear if the coalition's other main party, the PPP, would agree to their immediate restoration. Sharif has threatened to pull out of the coalition if the PPP refuses.
The PPP still would have enough allies in parliament to hold the government together with the withdrawal of Sharif's party, but analysts say that governing in the long term would be difficult with Sharif in opposition.
The political bickering has also underlined concerns for Pakistan's stability as the country tries to keep a lid on Islamic militants from the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
Nearly 100 people were killed in suicide bombings last week alone. Pakistan Taliban say the bombings were carried out in response to a military campaign against them - and have threatened more attacks to come.
Musharraf sacked the judges last year to ensure there would be no legal challenges to his re-election as president while holding the dual role as head of Pakistan's powerful military.
Their sacking set off a wave of public protests, however, and eventually led to the coalition threatening to impeach Musharraf before he stepped down last Monday.
Now critics say the PPP may not want to restore the judges either, because of fears that they could overturn the amnesty on corruption charges that allowed PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari to return to the country last year.
Zardari took over the party after his wife Benazir Bhutto, another former premier was assassinated in December, and he is likely to be selected by MPs on September 6 as the new president.
But Sharif's party could split from the coalition and then run another candidate for the presidency if the two sides do not find common ground on the judges. Nomination papers are due to be filed by tomorrow.Pakistan's fragile ruling coalition is at risk of being pulled apart today, setting... more
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ivxx
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1 year ago
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Pakistan's ruling coalition teetered on the brink of collapse as the two main partners squabbled over a successor to ousted President Pervez Musharraf.
Pakistan's ruling coalition teetered on the brink of collapse as the two main partners... more
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The party of assassinated Benazir Bhutto has nominated her widower to be Pakistan's next president, a party spokesman said Friday.
Asif Zardari will decide whether to accept the Pakistan People's Party nomination by Saturday, information minister Sherry Rehman added.
Pervez Musharraf stood down as president on Monday as the PPP and its ruling coalition partners threatened to begin impeachment proceedings.
Under Pakistan's constitution, parliament has to elect a new president within 30 days of the resignation. An election is scheduled for September 6.
Zardari moved to the fore of Pakistan politics after Bhutto's was killed by a suicide bomber while she was leaving an election rally in December 2007.
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more at linkThe party of assassinated Benazir Bhutto has nominated her widower to be Pakistan's... more
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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- Pakistan's largest political party on Friday proposed the husband of assassinated leader Benazir Bhutto to succeed the ousted Pervez Musharraf as president.
Asif Ali Zardari, who is emerging as the favorite to be elected by legislators Sept. 6, criticized Musharraf for his long, authoritarian rule but would likely continue the former general's support for the U.S. war against extremist groups.
However, his ascent would dismay many Pakistanis, who view him as a symbol of the sleaze that tainted the country's last experiment with civilian rule in the 1990s. He won the nickname "Mr. 10 Percent" for alleged corruption during his wife's turns as prime minister.
And, with the governing coalition that drove Musharraf to resign this week now teetering on the verge of collapse, Zardari's nomination is not certain. He is engaged in intense political horse-trading with the leader of the other key party, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who was a bitter rival of Bhutto.
Sharif had no immediate reaction to Zardari's nomination, but his party has been threatening to bolt from the coalition in a struggle over power.
Many citizens, as well as Pakistan's Western backers, are urging the parties to resolve political issues and turn their attention to runaway inflation, slowing economic growth and inexorably rising violence by Islamic militants entrenched along the border with Afghanistan.
That need was rammed home Thursday by twin Taliban suicide bombings that killed 67 people at the country's biggest weapons manufacturing complex, just 22 miles from the capital, Islamabad. On Friday, security forces killed 16 militants, including two suspected suicide bombers, in a clash in the restive frontier in the northwest, officials said.
After seeking to tame militant groups in peace negotiations, the government has been entangled in recent weeks in increasing fighting with hard-line Islamic movements along the border. Militant violence began intensifying after Musharraf ordered soldiers to seize a radical mosque in Islamabad during a bloody battle in July 2007.
According to Associated Press reporting, at least 110 militant attacks have been launched on government, military or police targets since the mosque siege and about 20 attacks have targeted civilians. At least 60 of all those attacks were suicide bombingsISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- Pakistan's largest political party on Friday proposed the... more
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ivxx
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Beleaguered president leaves but Pakistan's problems remain.
With opponents vowing to impeach him, Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf announced his resignation on Monday. According to the Guardian Newspaper Musharraf’s problems are far from over. Though covered for his military coup in 1999 by a constitutional amendment, he has no such protection for the state of emergency he declared last fall, and is thus open to prosecution as long as he remains in Pakistan. There are also a lot of people-mainly Islamic militants-who want to kill him. According to the Hindu newspaper “Musharraf’s exit is unlikely to undo Pakistani militants. “ It goes on to state that the country’s new civilian government has done "little to change Musharraf’s policies in the troubled northwest regions bordering Afghanistan. The coalition government wants to retain close ties to Washington, and support the international fight against Islamic extremism."Beleaguered president leaves but Pakistan's problems remain.
With opponents vowing... more
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Pervez Musharraf steps down, John McCain and Barack Obama battle in space, and the low road gets lower.
CAMPAIGN UPDATE knows that election news and weird jokes go together like a popped-collar meathead and a vacant-eyed blonde. Created by Mark Ganek and Brett Erlich, Campaign Update strives to be the dumbest smart show on television.
Bookmark us and check us out every weekday at current.com/campaignupdate.Pervez Musharraf steps down, John McCain and Barack Obama battle in space, and the low... more
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The penchant for grandstanding and the famous one-liners did not desert Pervez Musharraf even at the time of his worst political crisis. 'Pakistan is my love' was his parting line before he resigned from the Pakistani President's post Monday after being in power for almost nine years.
'I have always been in love with Pakistan and I am still in love with Pakistan,' Musharraf said in the televised address that brought an end to the era in Pakistani politics that started in October 1999 when he toppled the Nawaz Sharif government in a bloodless coup to take charge of running the country.
Facing an imminent impeachment motion from the ruling coalition government in the Pakistan National Assembly seeking his removal, Musharraf opted to step down without the confrontation. 'My attempt was always on creating an atmosphere of reconciliation. No victimization, no vendetta,' he said in the address that was broadcast live on several television channels.
Referring to the proposed impeachment motion, he added: 'But a situation of confrontation instead of reconciliation was created.
Musharraf admitted that though he had wanted to support and contribute positively in helping the civilian government run the country, his efforts came to naught because 'they saw me as a problem, not the solution'.
He argued that though the parliament and the political parties had the right to bring an impeachment motion against him, he too, had the right to of contesting the motion. 'No charge sheet can stand against me. No charge can be proved. I am confident about this because I never did anything for personal gain, I always did for the country. It was always 'Pakistan first',' Musharraf said.
The penchant for grandstanding and the famous one-liners did not desert Pervez... more
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From Oct 7, 1998 when he became chief of army staff to Oct 12, 1999 when he ousted the Nawaz Sharif government and now, almost nine years later, when he quit Monday as Pakistan's 12th president, Pervez Musharraf has played a key role in the country's development.
His political career in a nutshell:
Oct 7, 1998: Appointed chief of army staff.
April 9, 1999: Given additional charge of chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.
May-July, 1999: Kargil conflict in Jammu and Kashmir. Musharraf claims he acted on the orders of then prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
Oct 12, 1999: Overthrows Sharif in bloodless military coup; sends him into exile to Saudi Arabia a year later; dissolves parliament and names himself chief executive, even as then president Rafiq Tarar remains in office.
May 12, 2000: Supreme Court orders Musharraf to hold national elections by Oct 12, 2002.
June 20, 2001: Appoints himself president.
July 14, 2001: Travels to Agra for summit with then Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee; talks fail.
Dec 13, 2001: Terror attack on Indian parliament, for which India blames Islamabad-supported militant groups.
Dec 19, 2001: India and Pakistan almost go to war. India orders largest peacetime mobilisation along border with Pakistan.
April 30, 2002: Conducts referendum to extend his term to five years.
Jan 12, 2002: Delivers landmark speech against Islamic extremism; unequivocally condemns all acts of terrorism and pledges to combat Islamic extremism and lawlessness within Pakistan.
Oct 10, 2002: General elections bring Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) to power.
Nov 24, 2003: India and Pakistan declare truce along border.
Dec 2003: Makes deal with six-party religious alliance Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) to leave the army by Dec 31, 2004 to cobble together two-thirds majority in parliament to retroactively legalise 1999 coup; later retracts on deal.
Dec 14, 2003: Survives assassination attempt.
Dec 25, 2003: Survives another assassination attempt.
Jan 1, 2004: Wins confidence vote in Electoral College of Pakistan comprising both houses of parliament and four provincial assemblies.
Sep 17, 2005: Makes historic speech before broad based audience of Jewish leadership, sponsored by the American Jewish Congress, in New York, denouncing terrorism and opening the door to relationships between Israel and Pakistan, as well as between the Muslim world and Jews worldwide.
March 9, 2007: Suspends Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
March 12, 2007: Lawyers across Pakistan boycott court procedures to protest Chaudhry's suspension.
July 6, 2007: Another attempted assassination against Musharraf.
July 8, 2007: Security forces storm Islamabad's Lal Masjid to flush out fundamentalists.
July 20, 2007: Supreme Court reinstates Chaudhry.
Sep 13, 2007: Islamic militants in North West Frontier Province capture 300 Pakistani troops as government moves to assert its authority in the area.
Oct 6, 2007: Musharraf re-elected president for a second term.
Oct 18, 2007: Benazir Bhutto returns to Pakistan from exile.
Nov 3, 2007: Musharraf declares state of emergency; suspends parliament, sacks Supreme Court bench.
click http:///www.hamropalo.com for detailFrom Oct 7, 1998 when he became chief of army staff to Oct 12, 1999 when he ousted the... more
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Pakistan's two former military dictators - Gen. Ziaul Haq and Gen. Pervez Musharraf - had much in common, besides the fact that both were born in India and moved to Pakistan after the subcontinent was partitioned in 1947. Zia died 20 years and a day before Musharraf's rule ended.
Both were born in August - Zia on Aug 12, 1924 at Jalandhar and Musharraf on Aug 11, 1943 in Delhi. Both overthrew the governments of the prime ministers who had appointed them army chiefs out of turn and bypassing five senior generals.
Former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto appointed Zia as the army chief by superseding five generals, hoping that Zia would prove loyal to him as he was from amongst the Punjabi people settled in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). Unconfirmed reports say that Bhutto used to refer to Zia as a 'monkey general'.
Nawaz Sharif appointed Musharraf the army chief superseding five generals and thought he would remain loyal as he belonged to a minority ethnic group.
Both Zia and Musharraf were removed from power in August - Zia after his plane crashed Aug 17, 1988 while Musharraf was forced to resign Aug 18, 2008.
The fathers of both military dictators were government employees in undivided India and moved to Pakistan after partition. Both Zia and Musharraf were identified as mohajirs (refugees) in Pakistan and not as sons of the soil.
Among generals both were considered to be extremely lucky who got promoted to the top position in the army despite several negative remarks against them in the annual confidential reports.
'Usually, with such remarks, no officer goes beyond major,' said Usman Khan, a retired brigadier.
Both were under scrutiny when the 1965 war broke out between India and Pakistan but their cases were closed because of the emergency situation.
Zia joined the British Indian Army in New Delhi in 1943, the year when Musharraf was born and both had fought the 1965 and 1971 wars against India.
Both military dictators started the local bodies system in the country. Zia's initiative was abandoned by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government that came to power after his death. The one started by Musharraf is already under scrutiny by the current PPP-led coalition government.
Both military generals cobbled together a political group of opportunists and formed a political party known as Pakistan Muslim League.
Pakistan's two former military dictators - Gen. Ziaul Haq and Gen. Pervez Musharraf -... more
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To judge by the responses of people whom my assistant and I talked with on the streets of Peshawar this weekend, most Pakistanis will greet the departure of President Pervez Musharraf from office with great satisfaction. Fewer than 10 per cent of those interviewed said he had done a good job even at the start of his rule. The rest said they disliked or even hated Mr Musharraf for two main reasons: he has failed to stop inflation, and “he has taken American money to kill his own people”.
The tragedy of Mr Musharraf is thus that his administration has been destroyed by factors largely beyond his control – notably the relationship with the US – although some of his decisions may have made them worse. The tragedy of Pakistan is that these factors now apply to all Pakistani governments.
Mr Musharraf has made considerable achievements – providing Pakistan’s best economic management for many years, and contributing to a growth rate that until the present downturn was among the highest in the world. His government was far less corrupt than that of his predecessors, and he himself has never been credibly accused of personal corruption.
Mr Musharraf’s own progressive and tolerant ideals contributed to an opening up of Pakistani cultural life, which had been for so long stifled by the legacy of General Zia’s official Islamisation policy. He introduced a devolution of power to elected local councils that, while flawed, gives the possibility for the growth of democracy in Pakistan’s districts, rather than the appearance of it in its parliament. Lastly, he belatedly went as far as any Pakistani leader can go in seeking a settlement with India.
Of course, Mr Musharraf could never be forgiven by the western media or Pakistani liberals for being a military ruler – although most of those same liberals had welcomed his coup in 1999. His military background may also have accentuated a personal flaw, which was a tendency to make impulsive and risky decisions. Neither his reputation nor his relations with India fully recovered from his responsibility for the militarily brilliant but geopolitically crazy Kargil operation in 1999. His hasty decision last year to dismiss most of the Supreme Court precipitated the events leading to his fall from power.
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Click on the link for the full article.To judge by the responses of people whom my assistant and I talked with on the streets... more
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