Practising
the game of National Reconciliation!
A Candid
Analysis of PPP-Musharraf Political Reconciliation
By
Wajid Shamsul Hasan
LONDON,
March 5: I would have regretted it for a long time if I had missed
General Pervez Musharraf's Lord Haw Haw performing at his best.
It was an amusing encounter between Federal Information Minister
Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and Dr Shahid Masood of ARY TV channel last
Wednesday. The topic of discussion between the two was the much
trumpeted process of so called political reconciliation.
By
his candid approach Dr Shahid Masood had his guest look sheepish
and made him to blush often. The Lal Haveli's Sheikh tried his
utmost to wriggle out by answering straight questions with his
foot in his mouth. However, I must admit, when the interview ended
I could not make out whether he was elucidating in praise on the
overall performance of General Musharraf or putting before the
nation an irrefutable indictment of the General's failed government.
First
thing first, since the program was on political reconciliation,
I would like to thank Sheikh Sahib for having publicly acknowledged
that former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is the only national
leader and her party PPP is a political force to reckon with and
that any reconciliation between Ms Bhutto and General Musharraf
would be "a major political development in our part of the
world."
Since he has been talking about reconciliation with PPP since
late last year, Dr Shahid Masood asked him repeatedly the extent
of progress between the two political rivals. He sounded like
an empty vessel making a loud noise. In other words, he confirmed
the popular perception that the other name for Musharraf's reconciliation
was nothing but deception.
In
the same breath while acknowledging indirectly the political invincibility
of Bhutto and the massive popularity of PPP, Sheikh Rashid parroted
the words of his master that Benazir Sahiba would not be allowed
to return to Pakistan to enable her to contest the general elections
in 2007. He did not have enough courage to confess that his booted
boss and his Praetorian establishment feared Habib Jalib's "Nehati
Larki" (unarmed girl) as the only political force that
could pose a fatal challenge to their monopoly of power and counter
their bullet power with the power of the ballot.
He
tried to cover government's mala fide determination to keep her
out by taking refuge under the skirt of the concocted Swiss case
and the fabricated legal proceedings against her in Pakistan.
And surely he was at his sheepish best when he claimed that Ms
Bhutto, with whom the government was trying for "reconciliation"
with a beggars bowl, had no role in politics.
While
rigmaroling his reiteration and not giving any details of the
contacts between the government and the PPP, his emphasis that
such reconciliation would be in Pakistan's best national interest
and shall stand out as an event of far-reaching consequences in
sub-continent's politics is definitely not an under-statement.
The "deal" will come about when the negotiations will
get its "line and length together", he claimed.
Many
who know describe Sheikh Rashid's oft repeated assertions of a
"deal" as nothing but figment of his imagination running
wild especially when according to him Ms Bhutto would not be allowed
to even participate in the 2007 elections. Much as Musharraf would
not like to see Mian Nawaz Sharif back in Pakistan "since
he had chosen himself to go abroad" as Sheikh Rashid put
it, his statement: "But I can't say anything about Shahbaz
Sharif or his contacts with President Pervez Musharraf,"
is perhaps aimed at creating suspicions between the two brothers.
Analysts
see something more sinister in it and much of the divisive politics
that military rulers have consistently pursued to keep the fraternity
of the political leaders and the people divided. Not that Senator
Asif Ali Zardari has not blossomed into a bold and courageous
leader due to his long sufferings and incarceration, Sheikh Rashid's
acknowledgement that he has matured and has become very balanced
in his approach in politics and that "if he chooses the right
path, it will be appreciated" need to be read between the
lines as well. Every move seems to be part of the psy-wars that
the military and their agents have been playing in Pakistan to
cast doubts about political leaders and to divide the people.
That
being that, I now refer to his other "pearls of wisdom".
My readers should forgive me if I have made any error in understanding
and deciphering his various other comments including his absent
mindedness in recalling the name of his party leader. He mentioned
Choudhry Shujaat Husain as Shujaat Elahi despite Dr Masood correcting
him. He sounded rather lukewarm about the Choudhries and even
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. He proudly claimed that he stood
by former Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali but "then
he could not stand up himself" what could he do.
I
could not make out, whether deliberately or inadvertently, he
definitely made mince meat of Musharraf's slogan of enlightened
moderation raised to carry his American bosses and Western patrons
for a joy ride. Sheikh Rashid was categorical in putting it straight
that Musharraf was not secular. He would not separate politics
from Islam and that he believed in Islamic ideology, whatever
it means. He also claimed that the King's party, PML-Q, was out
and out Islamic and opposed to secularism.
I
share the view of those who are of the opinion that Musharraf
does not mean what he says. He may have liberal habits in his
personal life but otherwise he is much of Wahabi that his mentor
General Zia was. This has come out again recently when his King's
party acted against the mantra coming from Washington about his
much publicized"enlightened moderation".
Despite lot of foul mouthing in public about each other and although
sleeping in different beds, Musharraf's PML-Q and MMA share the
same dreams. The ruling party in parliament showed what actually
Musharraf had meant by "enlightened moderation" "
when both PML-Q and MMA joined in opposition to defeat a bill
seeking to tighten the law against honor-killings or the infamous
practice of karo-kari. The ruling party and MMA opposed
MNA Kashmala Tariq's private bill supported by the PPP and other
liberals in the National Assembly. Both PML-Q and MMA described
the bill as a move against Islamic teachings and the Hudood Ordinance
enforced by late Zia-ul-Haq in 1979.
Sheikh
Rashid's dilation on the issue of corruption was music to some
ears. Although he tried to avoid it but could not succeed in sidelining
the major fight on corruption within the Musharraf junta. He could
not say much in defence of the allegations of high corruption
by the sacked Sindh Minister Imtiaz Sheikh nor could he avoid
Imtiaz's 22 counter-charges of corruption, murders and accusations
of running of the private jails against CM Arbab Rahim.
No
doubt trading of charges between the General's Chief Minister
and provincial minister in Sindh are being described as the tip
of the iceberg, Sheikh Rashid must be given credit for a clear
indictment of the government and the acknowledgement of the fact
that the country has been rendered into the grips of land mafia,
builders mafia, textile mafia, sugar-producers mafia etc., etc.
He
could not, however, say that the military itself is the biggest
and most powerful land grabbers' mafia. He could neither throw
light as to how hurriedly the generals are busy usurping land
whether it belongs to the government all over the country by setting
up Defence Housing societies nor by evicting at gun-point the
poor dairy farmers of Renala Kurd. He cleverly avoided talking
about the hush-hush manner in which the law, an ordinance, for
setting up the Islamabad Defence Authority was introduced in violation
of the normal legislative practice, just a few hours before the
National Assembly began its session. It seems that such a step
in emergency was essential for the sake of "national interest
and security of the country".
As if the Sheikh's confession that the country was in the grip
of various mafias was not enough to cause ripples in Islamabad's
insulated corridors of power, the British High Commissioner put
Pakistan's scene in its correct perspective when he called a spade
a spade the other day. While announcing a 210 million pounds worth
of program to help achieve the goal of poverty reduction in Pakistan,
the diplomat Mark Lyall Grant was critical of the military's involvement
in business ventures, saying it was one of the biggest obstacles
to development and poverty reduction in Pakistan.
He
said that in the past 28 years, the military had increased its
corporate interests manifold, which was not good if Pakistan wished
to meet the Millennium Development Goals of eradicating poverty,
providing primary education to children, reducing infant mortality,
improving reproductive health, combating AIDS and other serious
diseases, protecting environment and building a global partnership.
To emphasize his point, the High Commissioner said: "We are
committed to boosting democracy at all levels in Pakistan. In
the UK, we have moved the government away from business, which
is why we are opposed to Pakistan's military being involved in
it."
This
exposure of the military playing the major role in corporate sector
has been rather unpalatable for Pakistan's business-oriented Generals.
They could not take it lying down especially when they have put
themselves to great personal risk by playing a frontline role
in the Anglo-American war on Jihadi terrorism. High Commissioner
Mark Lyall was summoned by the Pakistan Foreign Office and was
handed over a demarche for his reported criticism of the military's
growing business interests. Obviously, like all good diplomats
the High Commissioner too claimed that he had been 'quoted out
of context'.
Anyway
people of Pakistan owe a "big thank you" to the British
High Commissioner for having put the record straight, though whatever
he was widely reported to have said is not news in Pakistan. The
military's growing corporate interests are known the world over.
It is also an undeniable fact that these are responsible for not
only hampering poverty reduction efforts and effectiveness of
bureaucracy and judiciary in the country but also are the biggest
impediments in the development of democracy and rule of law. Having
become a huge corporate sector, it has acquired a parasitic growth
and vested interest that it would not like to part company with
even if it meant end of the country.
Sheikh Rashid also shattered yet another myth, of economic progress
under Musharraf. While sticking to his traditional crony style,
the Sheikh lauded the "revolutionary progress" under
his boss but punctured this claim prim and proper by adding that
he agreed with Dr Shahid Masood that the "fruits of this
progress have not filtered down to the masses" and they are
groaning under back breaking prices.
He,
however, avoided mentioning about the record number of suicides
committed during the Musharraf regime for want of employment.
He also did not mention the economic facts that denude Musharraf
government of all its tall claims of progress and prosperity.
I am sure he knows but does not say that the country is suffering
unprecedented unemployment around 23 per cent, that average household
income is Rs5000 and that people are suffering from record price
hike: (petrol is now Rs45 per liter, milk Rs25 per liter and a
single roti Rs5), rate of inflation is going (around 13 per cent
at the time of writing this article), that the prices of petroleum
products are raised upwards every 15 days, that only 22 per cent
of Pakistani households own their house, that literacy rate is
about 22 per cent to 26 per cent and to top it all, Pakistan is
behind Nepal and Bangladesh in Human Development Index.
He
cannot deny that poverty in Pakistan is increasing with every
passing day, the mega projects, dams, waterways, motorways, housing
for poor etc etc exist only in the media, advertisements, supplements.
No doubt stock market is moving up, but it is all speculation.
Funds thus raised are not going into industrial or business development.
And the artificially propped up stock market can crash without
any notice or on a rumor of one single high profile assassination.
That is the way houses built with cards collapse.
The writer is a former Pakistan
High Commissioner to UK
