August 11th, 2007
There are many who desire to be great in the political arena, however only a few turn dreams into reality. Numerous great leaders have left their names in the history books, however only few, whose names are read by history it self. Even before the development of first theories on leadership, chiefs and kings ruled everything from small bands to extensive empires. Though out the history numerous such leaders failed miserably and few managed greatness. As Shakespeare in his play "˜Twelfth Night' puts it, "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon' em". Many factors combine to give the great leaders, their greatness. Some such factors include keeping the majority satisfied, maintaining peace and social order among their citizens and be able to decisively protect from external attacks. Similarly, personal qualities are equally important, being charismatic, decisive, confident, etc. There are few that can combine all the above and offer it to their countrymen. Among such great leaders, the names of General Pervez Musharraf, President of Islamic Republic of Pakistan stand out in the not so distant past. General Pervez Musharraf had achieved a lot when he rose to the appointment of "˜Chief of the Army Staff', however the story of his political greatness started when he over threw the allegedly corrupt establishment of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf is an individual who can qualify as someone who has truly achieved greatness, in the recent times. The General that took control of the country in a bloodless coup, in 1999, was born near New Delhi on August 11th 1943. His family later migrated to Pakistan at the time of the partition of the Indian sub-continent. He comes from a well-educated family, his father served under the foreign office, where as his mother has formerly worked for UN. He received his high-school education in the country's' biggest city of Karachi. General Musharraf joined the Army at the age of 18, in 1961. In 1964, he was commissioned in an elite arterially regiment. General fought in the Indo-Pak war of 1965 as a newly commissioned office, and was presented an "˜Imtiazi Sanad' for gallantry. He volunteered to join the Pakistan Army's elite unit, the SSG (Special Services Group) for next seven years. He fought in the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965 as a young officer, and was awarded "˜Imtiazi Sanad' for gallantry. He volunteered to be a commando, and remained in the Special Services Group for seven years. He also participated in the Indo-Pak War of 1971 as a Company Commander. The experience of being part of two full-scale wars is something that will serve him well in the coming years. He graduated from the Command and Staff College, and National Defense College. General was also a distinguished student at the Royal College of Defense Studies, United Kingdom.
His rise in the army, came despite that fact that he belonged to the Urdu-speaking minority, another point where the odds were against him, yet he managed keep on progressing, and moving step by step towards achieving greatness. He has commanded infantry, artillery and various commando brigades and units. He served as Director General Military Operations from 1993 to 1995. Finally he was promoted to the rank of four star General and was appointed Chief of the Army Staff in 1998. If Musharraf had ever intended to over throw Nawaz Sharif before the actual coup, he most unquestionably used Sun Tzu words, "All war is deception" with perfection, as many suggest that Musharraf was promoted solely because he did not belong to the dominant Punjabi background and thus was not expected to build a power base strong enough to rise against the de facto dictatorial powers of the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. However, Musharraf not only managed to oust the corrupt regime of Nawaz Sharif but also survived a well-planned and well-coordinated assassination attempt by Nawaz Sharif. He took power without firing a single shoot, and in doing so he was very much following Sun Tzu's words, "He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight."
The next big test in the General's career came after 9/11. The collapse of the World Trade Center started the "˜War against terrorism', a war in which allies and foes were given little time to decide their stand on the war. This is when General's gambling instincts truly came into play. His about face on the Taliban left many world leaders shocked. Though Musharrafs' decision came as no surprise, he had a tremendous internal and international pressure on his shoulders, however in two opposite directions. Domestically extremist parties were against any support to United States, however the silent majority did not only trust the General's decision but also agreed for the removal of extremism from the Pakistani society.
At the time, situation was so intense that Time Magazine dubbed his job to be "The world's most difficult job" . The article goes on to say "No leader in Asia, perhaps in the world, has survived the number and magnitude of political crises that he has endured in recent months." Thanks to the timely decision taken by the General, Pakistan soon assumed the center stage in the "˜war against Terrorism.' He was even declared as the "South Asian of the year" in the December 19th, 2001 issue of the Times magazine.
His next big test came after India accused Pakistan of backing the militants of the Dec 13th, 2001 attack on its parliament. Pakistan strongly denied any such accusations, condemned those responsible and showed sympathy towards the victims of that attack. After the attack India mobilized its army along side the nuclear weapons, a move soon followed by Pakistan. Though Pakistan maintained that Pakistan was not backing any militants or terrorists operating in India, it has promised to crack down on any such cases. It was a nearly nine month long stand off, and only recently did the two countries pulled back from the frontline. Once again he managed to handle the crisis with great professionalism, without firing a single bullet and as Sun Tzu mentions it "For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill."
Musharraf has maintained a strict crack down on the militants and other extremists that were once groomed and fed by the CIA in collaboration with the Pakistani intelligence agency, ISI. However it has been a long time, from the fall of Soviet Union to be precise, since both organizations disconnected them selves with the extremist factions.
People often criticize Musharraf for two things, the first one being the overthrowing of a so-called democratically elected government. The second one being the strict crack down on the Al-Queda and similar factions and the support of United States. Though this is true that Musharraf came into power by overthrowing an elected government, however it must be looked closely to who he overthrew, he removed from power a de facto dictatorship of Nawaz Sharif; who was willing to go any extents to tighten his grip on the country. Nawaz Sharif had started the systematic meltdown of the government institutions, including the judiciary and the Pakistan armed forces. The amount of corruption his regime did is also unspeakable, he owned an entire group of industries and yet his industries paid less then $800 in taxes to the government of Pakistan. Last but not the least he was a traitor, who against the national stand of Pakistan on Kargil, blamed the civil insurgency in Indian Occupied Kashmir as the works of Pakistan army, and later tried to assassinate the Chief of the Army Staff, General Pervez Musharraf, and thus forced the army to overthrow him, as the legal power of the President of Pakistan to dissolve the parliament was already taken away by the de facto dictator.
Musharraf is also criticized for the support of US and cracking down on the terrorists, however this must be made clear that such opposition comes form a small minority of the 150 million Pakistanis, and the silent majority cannot be held hostage to the extremist minority of Pakistan. Musharraf is hailed globally for his crack down on terrorists and even domestically there is a lot of praise in this regard, after all people of Pakistan allowed him in the President's office with a 98% majority. It is argued that the poling was rigged, but that is only the opinion of the opposition, which is not at all a surprise given the history of losing parties in any type of elections. However, the international institutions maintain that though the turn out was low, there were no major or large scale signs of rigging. Similarly, all critiques must take facts into account, Pakistan's economy is better then ever before; the foreign reserves have increased by 3500% from mere 300 million USD to 11 billion USD; the inflation has remained low; the dollar has remained stable; government institutions after decades are finally giving off profits, KSE has exponentially expanded in last four years, numerous attempts have been made to normalize relations with India; efforts have been put in getting US into a FTA; the Security exports of Pakistan have crossed new thresholds and the export/import deficit may actually be met by the end of this year. All in all, given his accomplishments in last four years as the President of Pakistan, there is little doubt that the General have taken Pakistan a step closer to the dream of Mr. Jinnah. R.W. Emerson very well describes the relationship Musharraf great men and the improved Pakistan, as "Every great institution is the lengthened shadow of a single man"
In the end, HAPPY BIRTH DAY - MAY YOU LIVE LONG LIFE