General
Pervez Musharraf
Can anyone
please decipher a riddle for me which is haunting me for six
years since the previous and the present
“ Democratic Goovernments “ took over ?
Even in
purely democratic countries , a pendulum of likes and dislikes is constantly
moving . The governments fear it . The movement of the pendulum is indicative of its popularity for eg. Gallup Polls in the USA and helps them
to keep on their toes constantly . Even then governments lose their popularity
by the third year in office .
My riddle was
why the popularity graph goes down in Pakistan within one year of taking office
. In the case of the previous and the present ‘ democratic ‘ governments is that they have a
past baggage .
I have never
known General Musharraf except what appears in the media . Like every person ,
he had his plus and minus points . Suffice to say that as long as generals were
not associated with politicians , they appear sincere in doing their work . I
am not discussing the personal failings of an individual but official dealings .
General Musharraf is a patriot and
seemed sincere in his efforts to accomplish gigantic projects . Advisers make or break a leader . ( Please
read Qudratullah Shahab’s “Shahab Nama “ particularly the portion which relates
to General Yayha .)
Hazrat Ali (
May Allah be pleased with him ) was once asked why the affairs of the Caliphate
went wrong during his Caliphate . His answer was that he was the adviser to the
first three Caliphs whereas his advisers were incompetent and incapable .
In the
modern era , the media plays the role of advisers thanks to the grant of
freedom to them by General Musharraf .Whether
or not , it had used that freedom to better the living conditions of the 180
million people of this blighted land is open to debate . My vote goes to the
negative . The level of discussions is abysmally low .
Pakistan’s
history can be divided into two parts
1. Civilian Governments
2. Military dictatorships
Briefly civilian governments had been known and are known for palace
intrigues whether the ruler was Malik Ghulam Muhammad , Khwaja Nizamuddin ,
Mian Mumtaz Daultana or Iskandar Mirza or the present lot . Little or no work
was done or they are capable of doing except for lofty words and empty promises
. Credit which is due for military men for something useful is given to undeserving
people . For eg . the foundation stone for the steel mills in Karachi was laid
by the Soviet President , Podgorny in 1970 with the President General Yayha standing beside clapping .
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in spring 1977 decided
1. Declaring Ahmadis as non Muslims
2. Introducing the Hadood Ordinance .
The media in Pakistan
continues to blame General Zia Ul Haq for the second step .
After Bhutto initiated
the nuclear programme , it was kept going by General Zia till the completion of the
mission and after his sudden and mysterious death by the then President Ghulam
Ishaq Khan whereas Bhutto’s daughter , Benazir , capped the programme to please
the White House .
The country was on the
take off stage economically in the times of Field Marshal Ayub Khan . The growh
rate was 8.2% next only to Japan with 9 % as its growth rate . Divisive tendencies
came much later in the early 1990s . After Ayub Khan resigned , I rushed to a friend
and found him gloomy . He said in Urdu
“ Ab jootian mein daal
bata gai “
Every time I see the dull
performance of the ‘democrats’ I remember his words .
Incidentally only the military
dictators in Pakistan resign.
I am sorry for my candid
views .
Mahfooz ur Rahman
Islamabad
November 15, 2014
