Musharraf’s Coup - Seven Years Later

I have watched all the TV interviews of General Musharraf. I am amused when he greets the interviewer with alittle salute. It is funny. He did the same thing during press interview too with Us President.

He gave two interviews to Canadian Tv network. One is a national Canadian Broadcasting Corp. which is a national TV. The other a small unknown one!
It is really a self promotion.
Let us see how he is going to take the Bull by the horn now that he is in Pakistan when dealing with pressing domestic and national issues!

Let us wish him good luck and not throw stones at him!

Kamath

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Doc,

Great article, keep up the good work. Thanks

I find it difficult that ANYBODY who considers himself an embodiment of “enlightened moderation” would entertain even for one second living under the Hudood ordinance! But Mushy has no problems!

The unfortunate reality is that (1) Mushy is now and has always been an inveterate liar, (2) he has no real commitment to the country’s betterment – only to his seat of power – and therefore, he could be called a Pakistani coward, and (3) Mushy and his crowd only respond to fear and force – which only the USA seems to be able to wield at this time.

The absolute capitulation to the Taliban in Waziristan is a simple affirmation of the cowardice.

As far as Balochistan is concerned – from all appearances, it is like another Bangladesh in the making – with Mushy assuming the role of the first twenty-first century Yahya Khan! In all likelihood, only a matter of time.

Do u want him 2 be a democrat or not? Reforms happen slowly in a democracy - oh i see u really want him 2 be a dictator & off w/ ppl`s heads...

the advise i would give to hoodbhoy-types would be no different to the advise i would give to the muslims who live in the west and yet pretend that they are living in islamistan. both sets of folk would be much happier if they were to move out of their current abode and move to lands where the nizam is more to their disposition. the chances of pakistan turning into secularistan is exactly sifar. the future belongs to someone else:

``..staged conflicts ..``

Exactly........ PakiSatanees are infamous for staging a facade...........he fools nobody....Only his pschophants

One can see that you are struggling with Musharraf`s enigmatic policies as much as all of us are. Here are some chess moves to chew on:

1. If Musharraf takes on the obscurantists in Pakistan, he will be killed. An Islamic revolutionary government will take over Pakistan. India will attack Pakistan and do America`s dirty job of killing the Jihadi monster, that CIA created to fight socialism and communism. It has happened before in history e.g., Iran`s Islamic revolution came about with the support of CIA. Iran and Iraq vanquished each other. Oil continued to flow to the West at the prices they wanted.
2. If Musharraf takes on USA at this point, he risks Pakistan`s annihilation also. Note that many `terrorists` are from Pakistan and US can ostensibly attack Pakistan on very little provocation.
3. So what should he do? He seems to have decided that public opinion is the only court of justice. By garnering media attention he probably hopes to build credibility and protect himself. He seems to have a somewhat idealistic viewpoint of media--it is a gamble.
4. He also lets grass roots movements liberalize and emancipate Pakistan. The consistent freedom of the press is remarkable.
5. But given army actions in parts of Pakistan, it could be that he is more afraid of socialist movements than Jihadi movements and US imperialism put together.

By the looks of it, his stated noble intentions of emancipating and liberating Pakistan are taking a long time to mature. But the idea that Republican America presents an opportunity for Pakistan to strengthen itself is right on the dot. By playing a very difficult game of appeasing his masters, yet democratizing, yet keeping the fundamentalists happy, he is on a trajectory of confrontation sooner or later. Note that the lack of oil in the region means that Pakistan is of less strategic interest to America and therefore it enjoys more freedom to enact independent policies unless it gets caught up in revolutionary idealism of the Muslim brotherhood kind.

Well--so what should be done? I think the only way to influence policy is to continue to spread awareness about the way the Islamic jihadis are pawns in the great game to control the world`s resources. The fact is that both Khomeini, Osama and Saddam`s type of `resistance` has ended up destroying Muslim civilizations/countries/culture and intelligentsia. That the resistance if it can even be called that against imperialism has to be organized and non-violent. That it has to take up the mantle of justice rather than a blood bath.

So, the bottom line, Is Musharraf the Shah of Persia? (Shah repressed the communists for CIA, who were then killed off by the fundamentalists of their own country, who then fought with Iraq and weakened its army, leaving the middle-east completely unprotected against US interests). I am just as confused as the next person about Musharraf, but one thing is for sure, the fundamentalists would mean complete annihilation of Pakistan--and Islamic civlization.

#8 by SaimaShah on October 12, 2006 3:16pm PT


An Islamic revolutionary government will take over Pakistan.


Even if the nuttiest of Islamists were to take of the land of the pure, nothing would change...Pakistanis in general and it`s islamists in particular are all bark and no bite..One threat to bomb them to the stone age and they`ll fall in line..you vastly overestimate their ability to carry through with their jihadi agenda and vastly underestimate their desire to live a comfortable life without daisy cutters raining down on them..

All it would need is for the feds to pick up one of their grandsons living in Americatheir thirst for islamists ideals would be quenched forever..

#8 by SaimaShah

An interesting perspective, Saima sahiba! I disagree, of course.

1. Mushy is not and has NEVER been under any serious threats. It is mostly make-believe threat to prolong his stay. And so is all that noise he makes about trying to liberalize.

2. There is little enigmatic about the Mushy. He wants to stay in power, live a good life himself along with his cronies and make tonnes of money! Nothing wrong with any of that – we in the West strive for the same, but he has the added advantage of being able to dip into the Pakistani treasury at will! (No rerun of “personally honest” business, please!)

3. The beards have NEVER had widespread popular support in Pakistan – not because the Pakistani people are liberal at heart (hah!), but life under Mullahs will be tough life – and no human being wants a tough life, if they can avoid it – so the Mullahs will never get voted in except under contrived circumstances that we witnessed during the last “election”!

here are two big changes that happened in pak over mush`s reign. these two changes are having a profound impact on pakistani society - altering it in ways that few people had imagined.

as i wrote earlier future belongs to someone. likes of hoodhbhoy are better off someone else, not because they are a danger to pakistani society, but rather it will be better for their own seyhuth.




http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=27903

Cell phone subscriber base crosses 40m mark

KARACHI: Cell phone subscriber base crossed 40 million mark for the first time ever, as mobile phone companies added almost seven million fresh customers during the first quarter of 2006-07 on continued popularity of the service across the country.

Latest figures compiled by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority revealed that cellular phone connections stood at over 41.50 million by September 2006, which crossed 34 million by the end of last fiscal.

....He said during first quarter of the fiscal almost seven million (6,995,646) new connections were sold on the back of comparatively cheaper tariff offers due to increased number of service providers.

“So there was over 25 per cent mobile density rate by September 2006,” said the PTA official. “Almost all the four major companies - Mobilink, Ufone, Al Warid and Telenor - grabbed better market share during the first three months of 2006-07, which also brought different tariff packages for the subscribers.”

typo:

likes of hoodhbhoy are better off some place else rather than someone else.

.........there is significantly more to pakistan than mullahs and ataturks........significantly more problems and significantly more solutions.........those whose radar is stuck on mullahs and ataturks know very little of pakistan.......i think these topics are what interests such debators, and they just happen to use pakistan as a means to make their argument.........

.............during this year, i had a chance to ask some very prominent politicians about secularism, islam etc......most of them had no opinion on it......in fact, most couldn`t quite figure out what secularism was or wasn`t........they said their vorers aren`t too concerned about either.........they also told me they, as politicians, are not too concerned about opinions of cityfolks, in general, as this group rarely votes.......

.........so your voters in the rural areas must be concerned about health and education, i asked........no, they replied.........what are they conncerned about, i asked......i found their reply quite interesting.........apparently the biggest problem of the voter (most of whom live in villages) is protection from their own govt.!.......protection from the thanedar, the isi, the assistant commissioner, the judge etc...............these politicians spend most of their time either trying to get jobs for their voters, or trying to get them out of jail, or getting their court case resolved etc........

so what we should discuss about musharraf (or any other pakistani govt.) is what have they done in these two areas:

- providing jobs
- ensuring that pakistani awam is provided a fair and just government machinery

musharraf govt. has done quite well on the first account and quite poorly on the second.........the benefits of the first outweighed the negatives of the second for the first three years or so.........however, the negatives of the seoond are now outweighing the benefits of the first..............hence it is time for musharraf to move on.......or participate in politics as a civilian through some kind of a system...........

For democracy to work properly, Pakistanis must first understand the inner workings of their government, which for the most part is absent amongst most Pakistani that I have meant. Due to their upbringing most have mastered the style of saying nothing much, and yet are verbose enough to the point of being belligerent.

How did a society who gained its independence through political agitation come to this stage? This is the main question that should be discussed extensively for a clearer picture to emerge, and only then Pakistanis can embark on an enlightened path.

Respectfully submitted,

Bulleyaa:13
Giving an old story a local touch. Does this bring your point home?


Abdul and Dr.HoodbhoyPhD stop in a desert for the night. After they get their tent set up both men fall into deep sleep. Abdul wakes up the Dr.HoodbhoyPhd after a few hours and says, “Saab jee, look up towards the sky. What do you see?”

Hood, the PhD replies,” I see millions of stars”.

“What that tell you?” asks Abdul

The PhD ponders for a few minutes and then spills his brains out,” Astronomically speaking, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo. Time wise, it`s approximately quarter past three in the morning. Theologically, it`s evident that Lord is all-powerful and we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell you, Tonto?”

Abdul is silent for a moment and then says, ``Oh PhD saab, you are dumber than horse shit. It means someone stole our tent.”

``Musharraf and his generals are determined to stay in power. They will protect the source of their power – the army.``(Hoodbhoy)

-- `they will protect their power - the army` -- and guard their cookie jar - the Americans.

That`s why our Maina bird from Montgomery Alabama says -- she can`t -- `visualize` -- (poor thing so young and such tunnel cataract) -- anybody else -- other than Mooshruff - the only democrat in Pakistan -- as the head of the Pakistan government..

....... of course Ms. Matha Hari....who else....at least for another tiring 2 years -- before this cuckoo flew over another burning bush of the republican jungle.

as our Ms Riceroni will say in vernacular-- Moosh-e ruff hum pur fida hai -- hum fida-e Moosh-e ruff.....great piece Hoodbhoy -- bless you.