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Islamabad diary
Friday, August 15, 2008
Ayaz Amir
Last week I demonstrated the perils of instant punditry when I poured scorn over the prospects of impeachment. My concern was whether this move was for real. Putting ashes into my mouth, and sackcloth over my head, I apologise for that display of not totally unjustified cynicism. After all, we have been bitten so many times before that some shyness was not entirely out of place. But enough of that, this thing is for real, and no better Independence Day gift could have come for what remains a sorely-tried nation.
The Greeks thought that how one lived one's life was important. But perhaps more important was how one faced adversity and the inevitability of death. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was a man with great qualities and deep flaws. But he achieved near-immortality in the manner he faced death, not flinching, not afraid, not begging for mercy. He was never more the Laird of Larkana than in his death cell in Rawalpindi Jail, since demolished. On the site of the old jail now stands, with our unerring sense of aesthetics, a McDonald's takeaway.
Through its tumultuous history this country has endured and suffered two civilian despots, Ghulam Muhammad and Iskander Mirza, and four military usurpers "” Ayub, Yahya, Zia and the one now desperately hanging on to what remains of his former glory. Barring Pervez Musharraf who is still around but has reached the end of his line, all these so-called strongmen had to relinquish power unceremoniously. They made grand entrances on to the political stage. They just did not know how to time their exits or how to leave the stage with a semblance of dignity.
Pervez Musharraf is going. This is the writing on the wall, the skies, the message emblazoned across the stars. There is no miracle which can keep him for much longer (and this is only a matter of days) as president. But he is shutting his eyes to reality because he doesn't want to go, because he is afraid of the unknown and what may lie in store for him.
For years he has bragged about being a commando. What commando and what courage is he talking about? There are no redoubtable deeds of valour credited to him in the army. He did lead a military operation, Kargil, but we know what a disaster that was. Although if the full story of Kargil was known "” how Musharraf and the commanders involved in that operation, Javed Hasan, Aziz and Mahmood were responsible for sacrificing in vain the lives of some of our bravest soldiers and officers "” the cry would go up for dragging him and his associates in that ill-fated adventure before an avenging tribunal.
That one attempt at strategic command was a catastrophe. His rule has also been one endless tale of disaster which makes him a failure both in war and peace.
Our army's soldiers and young officers have done it proud. But its chiefs, especially those who went on to seize power, have disgraced it, Musharraf being no exception. But now he is compounding his own misery by not leaving when any remaining shred of dignity should tell him that he was best served by walking off the stage with as much calm as he can muster. He was never cut out for greatness but by delaying his exit he is proving the smallness of which his detractors have always accused him.
Yes, there are other problems the country faces. The economic situation is grim as is the outlook on our western frontier. The government needs to get down to serious business. But Musharraf is an encumbrance, a remembrance of things past, an irrelevance crying to be removed. Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were no problems for the French Revolution once they had been deposed from power. Czar Nicholas II was no problem for the Bolsheviks once they had seized power. But they were symbols of a dying era and the logic of those two revolutions dictated that they be done away with.
God knows the fire of no revolution burns in Pakistan. But we are at some kind of a turning point and Musharraf is the outstanding symbol of what went wrong with Pakistan, and the wrong choices the government made, during the past eight years. He must go.
The message to Field Marshal (self-appointed) Ayub Khan in March 1969 that his time was up and the national interest was best served by his departure was conveyed by the then judge advocate-general of the army. In his book of recollections Arshad Sami, then Ayub's ADC, says that before going in to see the embattled field marshal, the judge advocate-general called for a double whiskey (Black Dog, as we are told). This was most unusual. Visitors to the president, if they felt like quenching their thirst, asked for a whiskey "“ large or small "“ on their way out, not on their way in. What is more, the judge advocate-general called for a second whiskey and only after thus working up some Dutch courage for himself did he walk in to the president and deliver his ominous message.
In Dec 1971 General Yahya Khan was in no mood to quit even after the Eastern Command had surrendered to the Indian army and East Pakistan had become Bangladesh. But a cabal of senior officers, led by Lt-Gen Gul Hasan, put it gently to him that he had better hand over power to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
In Aug 1988 Gen Zia's summons came from Heaven, the instrument of Heaven "” if we are to follow the line taken by Mohammad Hanif in his at-times hilarious 'A Case of Exploding Mangoes' "” a box of mangoes put on his C-130 as it took off from Bahawalpur where he had gone to witness a tank exercise. In a Vanity Fair article not long after Zia's death it was said that the person who had persuaded Zia not to miss the tank exercise was his former military secretary, and then commander first armoured division, Major-General Mahmud Durrani. Innocent souls might have been forgiven for thinking that Durrani was past his active service days. But Musharraf appointed him as our man in Washington. After he was supplanted there by Haqqani "” 'snake-in-the-grass' to his friends "” he is now national security adviser to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. (Which makes one wonder what Gilani thinks of tank exercises.)
Musharraf has needed no judge advocate-general to tell him that his time was up. The entire nation has given him this message, never more loud and clear than on Feb 18. But he has refused to go thereby only piling up more indignities and humiliation for himself.
What was the point of insisting that the song show held for some years on the eve of Independence Day should be held in the presidency? What was he trying to prove? In the event it only rubbed in his reduced circumstances, for attendance by government high-ups was poor and why blame them because who wants to be at a funeral parlour which is what Musharraf's surroundings look like these days?
Forget about doing the nation a favour. Musharraf should do himself a last favour by looking up the meaning of the word dignity. If he has any left, he should go within the next few days. Let the country then move ahead and grapple with the many problems lying on its plate.
We need someone good to replace him, someone who can restore respect to the presidency. I suggested a couple of weeks back that Sardar Attaullah Mengal would be a great choice as president. It would heal Balochistan's bitter wounds, bring Balochistan into the mainstream of national life, strengthen the federation and send out a strong signal that as a nation we are capable of bold actions.
To Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif goes the credit of the impeachment decision. Let them be guided similarly when it comes to choosing the name of the next president. And let them not delay the issue of restoring the deposed judges. That would complete the first stage of the democratic revolution for which the people voted on Feb 18. It would then be up to the nation and its leaders for making what they will of the next stages.
Tailpiece: What a fine decision by Dr Fehmida Mirza, the National Assembly speaker, to have the national anthem played in the National Assembly on Aug 13 and to ask MNAs to wear the national flag on their lapels. One of the good things to have happened since Feb is her election as speaker. She is doing an outstanding job and is proving an able custodian of the House.
Email: chakwal@comsats.net.pk
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